2023 Burgundy: Puligny and Chassagne

2023 Burgundy: Puligny, Chassagne

Alex Moreau, Philippe Colin, Thomas Morey, Niellon, Sauzet

At the southern end of the Cote de Beaune, the villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet share custody of Burgundy's single greatest white wine vineyard, Montrachet (or call it Le Montrachet if you're standing on the Chassagne side). Once upon a time it was Puligny and Chassagne, but in the 19th century both villages chose to append the name of their very famous shared vineyard for an extra dollop of reflected glory. Both villages also have other fabulous terroirs, and both are home to some brilliant growers and winemakers.

In Chassagne, Alex Moreau (pictured) has made a scintillating set of 2023s. Like all the smartest growers this vintage, Alex began picking under cover of darkness, and stopped by mid-morning, to mitigate the effects of a harvest taking place in heatwave conditions. The results are fantastic, with the fruit counterpointed by chalkiness, tension and salinity. Thomas Morey makes wine in a similar stylistic mould, both delicate and intense. He employs minimal new wood and batonnage, and his wines are about tension, purity and precision.

From old vines and choice sites in Chassagne, Niellon makes intense wines which combine volume with precision. Philippe Colin notes that 'the terroir shines through this vintage', and is justly proud of his 2023s. And over in Puligny, Domaine Etienne Sauzet became one of the most favoured producers of the village back in the 1920s, and has never shifted from that exalted perch. /NT