There’s no need to yell. I can hear you loud and clear: “92 Points for Bourgogne Blanc?” Damned straight…93 points, and if I’m off, I’m off on the low side. This is a terrific white Burgundy by any measure, which is to say, solely with regard to quality and not just on the strength of price or value. It shows impressively complex aromas for a quite young wine under screw cap, with subtle notes of toast and spices that indicate a portion was treated to not-entirely-neutral oak, and the nuanced aromas and flavors also seem to indicate some hands-on lees stirring, though this is a guess on my part. What is not a guess is that this tastes more refined and intricate than plenty of $50 village or Premier Cru whites from the Côtes de Beaune, with essentially perfect proportions of acidity, fruit, wood and minerals. The 2017 vintage is very, very strong for whites in Burgundy, and this is certainly an object lesson to that effect, but the lofty skills of this excellent house are also clearly on display in this wine.
Thierry et Pascale Matrot, Bourgogne (Burgundy, France) Chardonnay 2017
By Michael Franz