Aromas of beeswax, ripe lemons, yellow orchard fruit and hazelnut cream introduce the 2016 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Combes Vieilles Vignes, a full-bodied elegantly textural wine that's attractively pure and tangy, concluding with a chalky finish. It isn't quite on the level of La Roche this year, but it's excellent nonetheless.
Drink Date
2018 - 2026
Jean-Marie Guffens's Verget label, today superintended by the able Julien Desplans, continues to be a reference point for the Mâconnais. Verget's Sologny winery is a sizable facility, unlike the tiny cellars of Domaine Guffens-Heynen, but artisanal methods have been intelligently scaled to match the requirements of larger-scale production: large horizontal stainless steel tanks, for example, offer the same lees-wine ratio as oak barrels, and the lees can be worked with nitrogen without introducing any oxygen into the vessel. Such inventiveness—and Desplans's evident fastidiousness—explain how Verget can offer such quality on such a scale. The best cuvées very much belong among the Mâconnais's élite, but this portfolio is also rich with terrific values to purchase by the case that would make ideal daily drinkers or by-the-glass pours. Classy but keenly priced white Burgundy isn't easy to come by these days, so we should all be thankful for the Maison Verget. These wines come warmly recommended.
The nose is light and fresh the start of the palate has the racy crispness of flint and lime. There is a richer feel in the middle tropical fruits and nectarines the richer fruit underpinned by freshness the finish is long steely, citrusy and mineral. 2018-23
The 2016 Pouilly-Fuisse Les Combes Vieilles Vignes comes from 70-year-old vines and matured in 25% new oak, the ferment continuing until December. The nose was rather reluctant when I tasted it, especially after the Saint-Véran Lieu Inter(Dit) that had far more to say. The palate is fresh on the entry with a keen thread of acidity, well balanced with a touch of salinity on the finish, but I would have liked more substance and depth to come through here. Not bad, but I have preferred other vintages in recent years. Drink Date 2017 - 2021
