Château-Fuissé / J. J. Vincent, Pouilly-Fuissé (Mâcon, Burgundy, France) 2012

You might take a look at the price tag of this wine and ask, “Well, why shouldn’t I buy a bottle of Meursault if I need to shell out seventy bucks?”  My answer would be, “Well, because this is a more complex and complete wine than the great majority of $70 bottlings of Meursault.”  J. J. Vincent is the top producer in Pouilly-Fuissé, which is in turn the top village in the entire Mâcon area in southern Burgundy, and this killer wine was made from 30 to 70 year-old vines on the estate.  The Chardonnay juice was then treated to extended ageing in small oak barrels, and the resulting wine is very generous but also impressively detailed and precise.  The rich fruit is very nearly full-bodied and recalls golden apples and ripe peaches, but there’s also a bright citrus fruit edge to the wine that prevents it from seeming heavy.  Oak is notable but restrained, lending a subtle whiff of toast and a touch of tannin that provides welcome definition to the ample fruit flavors.  This will certainly hold for another few years, but whereas I’d age this wine when made from a taut vintage like 2008 or 2010, this 2012 is basically perfect right now.  If you see the 2013 vintage as opposed to this 2012, snap it up–it is also delicious.