Alain Chavy Puligny-Montrachet Les Charmes 2012
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Puligny-Montrachet Les Charmes comes from Alain’s 0.66-hectare parcel of around 30-year-old vines in the lieu-dit adjacent to the Meursault Charmes. It has a tightly wound bouquet that like the village cru, requires a few minutes to really get going but belatedly offers up scents of apple blossom and a whiff of lavender. The palate is well-balanced with a fine line of acidity. This is a languid Puligny, one that is well-balanced and sedate, yet fresh and quite sensual in the mouth. It is not the most complicated Puligny you will find, but I am sure it will be enjoyable in the first 8-10 years after bottling.
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Wine Spectator
A round, buttery style, featuring peach and melon flavors, accented by spice. Open and easy, with fine balance and a long, supple finish. Drink now through 2020. 66 cases imported.
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The sons of Gerald Chavy have split their fathers holdings into two domains. They remain one of handful of growers that still reside in Puligny. Most domains are now owned by outsiders. Decanter Magazine selected both Alain and Jean Louis Chavy as one of 'the most improved domaines in Burgundy. Great vineyard sites, especially the Folatieres. The other other grower in Clavoillons is Domaine Lefaive. Alain owns 6.5 hectares of splendid vineyards. Alain makes restrained style of Puligny with ripe fruit balanced by crisp acidity, which are designed to long aging. Almost no chemicals are used in the vineyards apart for protection against mildew. All grapes are hand harvested, pressed and fermented in barrel at not more than 25 degrees.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A source of some of the finest, juicy, silky and elegantly floral Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet lies just to the north of Chassagne-Montrachet, a village with which it shares two of its Grands Crus vineyards: Le Montrachet itself and Bâtard-Montrachet. Its other two, which it owns in their entirety, are Chevalier-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. And still, some of the finest white Burgundy wines come from the prized Premiers Crus vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet. To name a few, Les Pucelles, Le Clavoillon, Les Perrières, Les Referts and Les Combettes, as well as the rest, lie northeast and up slope from the Grands Crus.
Farther to the southeast are village level whites and the hamlet of Blagny where Pinot Noir grows best and has achieved Premier Cru status.