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.

An admirably subtle application of wood lurks in the background of the more floral and citrus-inflected nose of rosemary oil, pear and crushed fennel. There is good size and weight yet the mouthfeel of the medium-bodied flavors is actually sleeker while delivering fine length on the equally bone-dry, youthfully austere and lingering finale. This is firm enough to need at least a few years of keeping to unwind. Date: Jun 2026; Drink: 2031+; Issue: 103; Comments: Outstanding; Rating 91 Points; Allen Meadows; Burghound