Alvina Pernot Puligny-Montrachet Folatieres Premier Cru 2018
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Robert
Parker - Burghound
Product Details
Winemaker Notes
In the debut 2018 vintage, none of these wines saw any new oak, and they matured on the lees until they were racked for bottling in used barrels, mostly from François Frères. In 2019, some new cuvées from Caillerets, Pucelles and Corton-Charlemagne will enter the portfolio, the result of an exchange with another grower. And some barrels from Tonnellerie Rousseau, pre-used at Domaine Paul Pernot, will enter the "parc a fûts." This accomplished set of 2018s, in a style that's precise, elegant and delicately reductive, certainly bodes well for this new producer. Alvina and her husband seem to have a good sense of what they can achieve; and, backed by the Pernot inheritance, they have an enviable canvas of appellations on which to realize it. I will be following their evolution with interest and intend to report on their 2019s in the near future.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatières hails from the higher-altitude parcels within the Pernot family's copious holdings in this prime premier cru, and the wine is showing beautifully. Revealing aromas of white flowers, citrus oil and oatmeal, framed by a light touch of reduction, it's medium to full-bodied, textural and incisive, with lovely depth and dimension, concluding with a lively, mineral finish.
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Burghound.com
This is the first wine to display much reduction and while it does blur the nuance, it's clear that the underlying fruit is both ripe and mildly exotic. Otherwise there is excellent richness to the succulent and seductively textured flavors that also flash evident minerality on the dry and clean finish. This isn't quite as persistent as the Clos de la Garenne, but my sense is that will change once the sulfur that is causing the reduction fully integrates.
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.