Côte de Beaune

Les Hâtes sits in the middle of the village, surrounded by premiers crus on well-draining soil. It makes for a floral, ethereal style of Pinot with lovely proportions. This floral character is a natural expression of the site which David sees emerge every year. 10-15% whole-bunch is brilliantly controlled here. A contender for the best price:quality ratio on the list this year.

Smooth, silky, bright and incisive. This wine is outstanding. The vines sit at the top of the parcel right next to Lafon’s. This location gives a dialled-up minerality, setting it apart from the richer examples produced further down the slope. As classical as they come in Meursault.

Along with Genevrières, you can rely on Perrières to be a sensational wine from Charles Ballot. It shows sophisticated reduction, with limestone bite on the palate and a mineral flourish on the finish. Scintillating.

The vines in Genevrières are over 80 years old, and the wine has a gravitas and presence. It shows weight and persistence, gorgeous amplitude and fabulous length.

This magnificent wine is only made in tiny quantities. There is superb precision on the palate, which is vibrant and mouth watering with a chalky structure. This complexity is no surprise, given that Les Caillerets is one of the finest sites in the village, with particularly stony soils, producing tense, vibrant, acid-driven wines.

La Maltroie is one of the larger premiers crus in Chassagne, and is often one of the most restrained, backward wines in Alex’s cellar. The vines sit right in the middle of the village, opposite the cellar. It has a savoury, smooth length, and a tight, refined power. It feels young, and will enjoy a long life ahead.

Morgeot borders Santenay at the south end of the village, and is not only the largest premier cru in Chassagne, but the largest cru in the Côte d’Or. Alex’s parcel has the benefit of old vines - 50 years old, and their concentration combined with Alex’s practice of long, slow fermentation has resulted in a smoky, textural, delicious expression.

This is one of our most in-demand Bourgogne Blancs, and with good reason. It’s a window onto the style of one of the Côte de Beaune’s hottest winemakers of the moment. It’s racy, and fresh, with a burst of citrus fanning out across the palate. It is the epitome of refreshing, balanced, and delicious Burgundy. As with all his wines, Alex looks for energy rather than too much ripeness in his Bourgogne. You will never regret having a few bottles of this in the cellar.

This is gorgeously vibrant and fresh, but with excellent depth and persistence. The energy comes from the elevation of the vines around Nantoux, but that depth and complexity is down to a careful technique Boris uses in the cellar. He keeps the fine lees from the previous year to add to the current year’s wine. It’s a practice used by Coche Dury and gives autolytic complexity and noble reduction. It also keeps the acidity in the wine. It’s a labour of love, but worth it. This is a terrific Aligoté with bite and precision.

This Coteaux Bourguinons is made from 100% old vine Gamay grown in Nantoux. Boris said, amazingly, the Gamay was barely bothered by the mildew that destroyed the Pinot Noir next door. This is an exceptional Gamay, with fluidity and grace in its easy, juicy core, and fresh, balanced finish. Some of the vines are getting on for ninety-years-old, and the concentration and kick this gives to the wine is notable. This is a top pick in 2024.

Just like the Aligoté, this undergoes the Coche treatment, with fine lees from the previous year integrated into the new, adding savoury, autolytic depth. It is amazingly vibrant and energetic. It comes from a single parcel up near the domaine.

Le Clou is a single vineyard in Nantoux sitting at a precise 377 metres elevation. Its soil is similar to Volnay, with chalky, rocky topsoil over a limestone marl bedrock. Boris has reduced the whole-bunch from 100% down to 60% this year, and the result is a Clou which is more open in its youth, with a juicy, easy flow. It has a fine, elegant aroma of red berries and cinnamon spice, with silky tannins and impressive concentration on the poised finish.

The Bignon parcel has red clay soil, not dissimilar to that found in pockets of Pommard. It usually produces an easy-going, fruit-forward wine, but the 2024 has some serious structure in there. It might need a little more time than the Clou, but it will reward the patient.

This comes from a blend for the domaine’s young vines with a small dash of extremely old vines, from multiple parcels scattered around the village of Nantoux. It has a crunchy acidity giving it a fresh profile, which is twinned with the ripe blueberry/raspberry fruit character. It shows a spiced, grippy and fine length.

An energetic and vibrant Bourgogne Blanc: it comes from parcels across Santenay and St-Aubin, wonderful fleshy fruit on the mid-palate paves the way for an impressively long finish. It is deliciously zesty and refreshing.

This is the most linear and precise of Bruno’s premiers crus, with a zippy line running through the palate. It is tightly mineral and intricate, and in fact, feels quite a lot like a Puligny, yet there is a depth and texture to the fruit that draws you back to Chassagne. Saline and enduring in the finish. Outstanding.

This is a fantastic example of village Chassagne, with bright, vivid nectarine fruit character and a sumptuous, silky palate. It gets its intensity from the old vines (some are approaching 70 years) from nine parcels scattered across the village. A smattering of new oak gives it structure and support. Long and satisfyingly saline finish.

En Remilly sits at the meeting point of three villages: Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and St-Aubin. The larger part of it falls within St-Aubin, with the tiny part on the Chassagne side enjoying a superb position - next to Chevalier-Montrachet and just above Le Montrachet. At 300m altitude, with very little topsoil, Bruno’s two parcels (one of which touches Chevalier-Montrachet) make a magnificent wine: concentrated, opulent, mineral and energetic, with a precision you only find in Chardonnay grown on limestone.

This is a secret gem to know about. It’s made from a blend of young vine fruit and some incredible old Aligoté Doré grown in Meursault (c.100 years), whose tiny, golden berries are packed with vibrant flavours. This is a particular highlight in the cellar, and clearly outpaces their Bourgogne Chardonnay.

This gourmand, full-bodied and elegant wine is one of the sweet spots of the Comte Armand stable, with surprising ageing potential. It often does well in lighter years, so in 2024 we could be in for something special. It is a blend of two vineyards in Auxey: Les Bréterins and Les Duresses. Bréterins is steep and well-draining, with limestone soils contributing savoury elegance; Duresses is clay-based and builds power and body in the wine. Its particularly fine tanning structure is what sets it apart from the village wine.

The primary reason this cuvée is not more celebrated and well-known is that it is simply produced in tiny quantities, particularly so in 2024. It is the most fine-boned and restrained wine in the cellar, its charm derived from its elegant restraint. Its high proportion of old vines make a concentrated and deep wine.

This Volnay shows delicious freshness, length and tension. Pillowy, gently spiced red fruit leads to a silky, aromatically complex palate, spiced through with wild strawberry fruit. It is a blend of two parcels, Les Famines and Les Grands Champs, in the centre of the commune.

This is an important vineyard both in terms of its size (a substantial 5.23 ha) and its historical stock of old vines (some now over 100 years old) which are used as a source of top quality massale selection by nurseries: its plant material is simply supreme. High-density planting and old vines means low yields are the norm, and sadly in 2024 only 10hl/ha were achieved here. This Clos feels on point: powerful, svelte, profound, and intense. It is truly one of the greatest vineyards of the Côte de Beaune.

Criots is a tiny grand cru, just one and a half hectares, making Fontaine-Gagnard one of the largest owners, with one third of a hectare. The south-east-facing slope, with poor limestone soils, yields a wine with superb power and tension. But this is only achieved when the parcel is picked at just the right moment. Céline says she watches it like a hawk, catching it before the fruit ripens into the tropical spectrum.

La Maltroie is located just up the road from the winery, near the heart of the village. The domaine owns two parcels, one of 0.56 hectares and the other 0.17 hectares. Céline says it is always approachable from early on, and is hence one of the first premiers crus to be bottled. It has a pleasing freshness and amplitude in 2024. It is more weighty than the village wine, with an extra level of depth.

This maintains its place as one of the most complete and brilliant value village wines from this famous village of the Côte de Beaune. It is quintessentially Chassagne with its deliciously sleek, nutty fruit, and chiselled texture on the palate. It’s a benchmark Chassagne from one of our favourite producers, and always a smart buy.

Caillerets takes its name from the tiny stones that litter the vineyard’s soil, and it’s one of the village’s most highly-prized sites. This wine in 2024 is chalky, chiselled, and distinctly of its limestone terroir. There’s spiced pear fruit on the mid-palate, too. A triumph.

Le Montrachet is the greatest of all white grands crus, but volumes being what they are in 2024, Céline was only able to make one barrel. There is power and majesty here. Sensational.

Bâtard-Montrachet is never short of showy power, even in youth. It’s smoky, weighty, and concentrated, and overall an incredibly handsome wine.

This is one of many Volnay premiers crus that Marc-Olivier has at his fingertips. The site’s generous topsoil makes for a wine of appealing charm, marking it out as one of the earliest drinking of the Buffet Volnay premiers crus. As with all his 24s, the fruit is completely de-stemmed, and the wine has a sumptuous, succulent texture on the palate. It is sweetly- scented, with intense purity of fruit. Sensational.

This is arguably the greatest site in Volnay. Marc-Olivier is lucky to have two parcels here. The ‘young vines’ are a mere 50 years old, and the old vines very much older. This is the stuff of dreams: red fruit tenderness, a Volnay austerity and grip on the back palate, and a seductively long finish.

Marc-Olivier’s usual 20 barrels are reduced to just one and a half in 2024. But what remains has excellent purity. It is floral and gently spiced, with layers of delicate aromatics. It comes from a blend of two parcels: the evocatively named Les Famines, whose paucity of soil makes the roots dig deep; and a small dash of the tiny lieu-dit, La Gigotte, which lifts this village wine up a notch. Sapid, fruity, and accessible, with nicely grippy tannins.

This superb cuvée is always made in tiny volumes, so there is very little to go around. Restrained and graceful, with a savoury backbone.

Like the Volnay Taillepieds, this is one of the smaller cuvées in the Buffet stable. It comes from the upper part of the vineyard, planted with vines that are now well over their hundred year mark. All work here is done by horse, and the attention to detail continues in the cellar. Toothsome power and muscular drive combine with sweet fruit length.

There are many who consider Bachelet’s Blanchot-Dessus to be on a par with its grand cru neighbours, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet and Le Montrachet. The vines were planted in 1927, and this old-vine wine has the presence and stature of its grand cru neighbours. Its shyness in youth will be transformed into majesty with age. Put it away for a few years to see what it can really do.

The domaine used to - technically - rent these vines from Jean-Marc’s mother, Lydie’s grandmother. She passed away five years ago and since then the domaine has inherited the two parcels, from which they make this fabulous wine. It has a power and depth that sets it apart from the premiers crus, with precision and length promising a superb evolution in bottle. Just two barrels produced in 2024.

Morgeot borders Santenay at the south end of the village, and is not only the largest premier cru in Chassagne, but the largest cru in the Côte d’Or. It produces a powerful and fragrant wine, with a straight, linear drive.

Les Vergers sits at the village’s northern border with St-Aubin, on the slope just above Les Chenevottes. The wine is floral, detailed, open and charming. The palate is concentrated and textured: there’s real weight to the fruit. It finishes with impressive power.

The Pillots don’t rush anything these days, even the bottling of their Bourgogne, which along with their Chassagnes, spends two winters in the cellar before being bottled. This time allows the wine to fill out, and take on a seriousness and depth which pitches the wine well above its lowly classification. It has a sweet nectarine intensity and a fleshy, vibrant length. It comes from various parcels all around the village of Chassagne.

This is from three of the village’s best communal sites: Les Pierres (94-year-old vines), Mazures (40+), and Houillères (30+). The younger vines give lift, elegance and a vibrant drive, while the older vines give depth and power. It shows a light lemon scent on the nose, with a fresh, linear drive of acidity on the palate.

The small but choice climat of Les Baudines in the larger Bois de Chassagne cru is perched high up on the hill benefitting from the cooling breeze. It is chiseled and driven.

Jean-Marc makes some of the best Chassagne Rouge around. With many old vines planted on the clay soil pockets around the village, this old vine cuvée has a fabulous spiced plum aroma on the nose, with textural red fruit detail on the palate. You’ll find lacy, fine-grained tannins of the highest order here.

This vineyard, bordering Pommard, did once produce wines with some robust, muscular tannins. But now that the vines have reached 70+ years, and Clément’s winemaking is less extractive, the tannins are softened, and particularly fine in 2024. It shows a touch of blueberry fruit, with plush and refreshing structure.

This very fine Volnay shows elegant red fruit, with nicely ripe, supple, fine tannins. There’s a little cinnamon and pink peppercorn spice in the background, too.

This is a blend of three parcels, from Chassagne, Puligny and St-Aubin. The Chassagne fruit gives fleshiness, with Puligny and St Aubin giving tension and persistence. It’s got a length and clarity that set it above your average Bourgogne Blanc, and is a smart buy. Light and refreshing.

The cuvée is named after Damien and Caroline’s grandmother. Its personalised moniker hints at how fond the family are of this wine, which is usually a blend of three parcels in the village. However in 2024 one parcel was so badly frosted it lost 100%, so we are left with two-thirds of the blend. It is nevertheless a brilliant portrait of St-Aubin, with chalky intensity and tender stone-fruit length.

This is one of the gems on our list: it may be village on paper, but this exceptionally well-placed parcel - an east-facing limestone vineyard that extends just beyond the band of premiers crus - delivers well beyond its status in the glass. It has a peachy definition and that great Meursault structure - plenty of ripeness combined with the thrilling freshness of the year. It has more ample fruit than the Bourgogne with a voluminous length.

You can feel the character of the poor stony soil found in Puligny here in this wine’s floral, racy delicacy. It has a piercing, slightly spicy intensity accompanied by a tenderness of fruit on the finish. Enticing, with intricate structure and superb definition.