2017 Puligny Montrachet Les Folatières 1. Cru Domaine Bachelet-Monnot

Pure clear lemon yellow, with a delightfully fresh fruit on the nose. Not only pure but also impressively intense. The ripeness of the fruit shows in the touch of bacon that emerges later on the palate but this wine never loses its admirable tension.

The 2017 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru sports quite a bit of reduction on the nose that makes the terroir and fruit profile difficult to read. The palate is well balanced, taut and fresh, with a fine bead of acidity and good depth; quite powerful for a Folatières. Fine bitter lemon notes surface on the finish, which is very sapid and more-ish. A long-term wine but well worth cellaring. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune.

The 2015 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru les Folatieres has a strict, backward, introspective bouquet that perhaps does not convey its terror with the gusto of the Les Referts at this point. That may change of course. The palate is very well balanced with good salinity on the entry, understated at first but building and fanning out towards the spicy, lively finish. Superb salinity here, yet this Les Folatières will needs 2-3 years in bottle. Those who have a penchant for this wine should stock up on the 2015, since after the 2016 vintage, half the vineyard was pulled up.