The 2016 Saint-Véran Vigne de Saint-Claude is another of the highlights of Verget's 2016 portfolio, offering up a classy bouquet of green orchard fruit, citrus blossom and pastry cream. It's ample, satiny and racy on the palate, with nice length and stony grip on the finish. It was impacted less heavily by hail than the Terroirs de Davayé bottling and remains quite classic in profile.
Drink Date
2018 - 2025
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 2016 St Veran Vigne de St Claude comes from a parcel close to the village of Prissé and it underwent élevage in barrel for six months. Despite being the first to be harvested, it has an expressive nose with chalk and light brioche aromas. The palate is rounded and smooth, a pleasant fatness defining this Saint-Véran, honeyed, peachy notes lingering on the finish. It is not a complex Saint-Véran but for sheer drinkability, this will do nicely. Drink Date 2017 - 2021