This is one of the finest white Burgundy estates, where the wine-making involves minimal interventions. It is run by Jean-Marc Blain and his wife Claudine, the daughter of Jacques Gagnard-Delagrange. The family owns some of the village’s greatest hillsides. New oak barrels are never used to excess, being subtly spread amongst the different cuvées, so that spicy oakiness is never perceptible here. Blain is also prudent with stirring-up of the lees (known as bâtonnage) which, if used to excess, may result in heavy wines which taste mealy. Here, on the contrary, the finished wines have great purity of fruit, with balanced acidity and long, clean flavours which clearly evoke the wines’ precise origins.

Here the expressive and slightly more elegant nose presents an array of white flowers, apple, pear and citrus confit. The finer but not denser middleweight flavors possess a sleek mouthfeel while offering very good length on the youthfully austere and chiseled finale that is just a bit more tightly wound. An aging curve of 5 to 8 years should see this quality effort at its apogee. Date: Jun 2024; Drink: 2028+; Issue: 95; Rating: 88 Points; Allen Meadows; Burghound