($95, Louis Latour USA): Despite the concentration of Latour’s whites in 2012, the wines still reflect their origins.  This wine has a particularly stony edginess that screams Puligny-Montrachet and distinguishes it from the slightly creamier Meursault.  Like Latour’s Meursault Premier Cru, Les Truffières has a welcome vibrancy that balances its riches, amplifies its finish and puts its refinement into sharp relief. … Read more

($70, Louis Latour USA): Louis Latour, one of Burgundy’s top-notch producers, hit a bull’s eye with their 2012s.  The vintage produced concentrated wines and capturing acidity, especially for the whites, was a challenge.  Latour succeeded brilliantly.  This Meursault has a beautiful, yet not overripe, density for a premier cru in 2012. … Read more

($155, Louis Latour USA): Latour, the largest owner of Corton-Charlemagne, makes sensational wines year in and year out from that vineyard. Indeed, in my opinion, there is no better producer of Corton-Charlemagne.  As expected from Grand Cru white Burgundy, Latour’s Corton-Charlemagne bottlings evolve gracefully and improve over a decade or two. … Read more

($440, Louis Latour USA): Chevalier-Montrachet, a 19-acre vineyard, sits just above Montrachet on a more rocky terrain with poorer soil.  In my mind, it is home to Burgundy’s most exciting white wine, marrying the richness of Montrachet with a firmness reflected by the stony site. … Read more

($150, Louis Latour USA): With their 67+ acres of Grand Cru vineyards, Louis Latour owns more of those precious plots than anyone else in Burgundy.   They are best known for their stellar wines from the Grand Cru vineyard of Corton — both red and white. … Read more

($80, Louis Latour USA): Consumers tend to forget that the top-tier négociants, such as Louis Latour, make wine from grapes grown in vineyards they own in addition to buying grapes from others.  Indeed, Latour, one of the largest vineyard owners in Burgundy, owns a substantial parcel in Vignes Franches, one of the best premier cru vineyards in Beaune. … Read more

($80, Louis Latour USA): Louis Latour, top-notch négociant established in 1797, is based in the Aloxe-Corton.  Since their founding, have been able to purchase prime plots there, so it’s not surprising that they make excellent wines from vineyards in that village. … Read more

($45, Kobrand): Jadot’s Savigny-lès-Beaune and their Pernand-Vergelesses lend powerful support to France’s focus on terroir.  These two wines, from comparably prestigious premier cru sites less than a few miles apart, were made from the same grape — Pinot Noir — by the same winemaking team. … Read more

($39, Kobrand): The 2011 vintage for red Burgundies will always be overshadowed on a vintage by the rich 2009 and racy 2010.   But the chief advantage of the 2011s is that they are deliciously forward wines.  Indeed, they will give more pleasure for drinking now than either the 2009s or 2010s. … Read more

($100, Kobrand): The seductive combination of suaveness and depth is what accounts for the popularity, and hence, price of wines from Chambolle-Musigny.  Jadot’s 2011 Chambolle-Musigny Les Baudes has all the mineraly underpinning and glossy patina you’d expect from a premier cru from this esteemed village. … Read more

($18, Louis Latour USA): Viré-Clessé, a small, 500-acre appellation created only in 1998, was carved out of the Mâcon-Villages appellation because the wines from Viré and Clessé (along with a couple of other towns) had considerably more potential.  Louis Latour, one of Burgundy’s top producers, has realized that potential with their 2010 Viré-Clessé. … Read more

($42, Wilson Daniels): Though Château Moulin-À-Vent focuses on their red wines, they also have old Chardonnay-planted vineyards in Pouilly-Fuissé.  Their Vieilles Vignes bottling conveys the stony character of Pouilly-Fuissé.  Tightly wound at this stage, I would give it a few years before pulling the cork even though it’s from the 2012 vintage, one known for lower-acid white wines, because there’s no lack of structure here — the old vines speaking, I’m sure.… Read more

($21, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.): Saint-Véran, a small appellation in the southern Mâconnais, has the potential to produce wines that are a touch more concentrated than those from the broader Mâcon-Villages appellation.  The ripeness in this wine comes from both the appellation and the vintage. … Read more

($30, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.): Pouilly-Fuissé, the best appellation in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy, has such a following in the US that producers can bulk up yields or otherwise cut corners on quality. Drouhin does not.  The first sip conveys the refinement that separates this appellation from the rest of the Mâconnais. … Read more

($13, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.): The Mâcon-Villages regional category of Burgundy is my go-to area for well-priced Chardonnay-based wines.  Sadly, the overall quality of Mâcon-Villages is highly variable.  That’s why it’s important to find ones from top-notch producers, such as Drouhin, a leading Burgundy négociant. … Read more

($30, Sherbrooke Cellars Selection): Marsannay, the northern most appellation of the Côte d’Or and practically a suburb of Dijon, is one of the last outposts of the “golden slope” where the consumer can find authentic Burgundy at reasonable prices.  Most Marsannay is red, but 15 percent of the vineyards are planted to Chardonnay, making it one of the rare white wines from the Côtes de Nuits. … Read more

($120, Kobrand Wine And Spirits): Jadot’s Corton Charlemagne comes from its vineyard on the well-positioned southeastern facing Pougets plot on the Corton hill.  I was unenthusiastic about the 2011, a wine I usually love, when I tasted it from barrel in Jadot’s cellars because I thought it lacked energy and verve. … Read more

($22, Dreyfus Ashby & Co): Warmer years like 2012 or 2009 benefit Burgundy appellations, such as Rully, in the Côte Chalonnaise whose wines can often come across as lean in cooler vintages.  Drouhin’s 2012 Rully has plenty of ripe juicy red fruit flavors to balance the stony firmness you’d expect from the wines of this appellation. … Read more

($50): The Château de Chamirey, one of the finest producers in Mercurey, owns about one-third of Clos du Roi, a 30-acre premier cru vineyard.  They’ve divided their 10-acres into four distinct plots identified by different soils, which produce Pinot Noir that ripens at slightly different times. … Read more

($30): Domaine de Suremain is a top producer in Mercurey, a village in the Côte Chalonnaise where authentic Burgundy can be found at reasonable prices.  The 2012 vintage was especially kind in there because it gave the wines a touch extra ripeness that balances the characteristic firmness of the region. … Read more

($42): None of the 375 acres of vineyards in Chorey-lès-Beaune, a small village just north of Beaune (lès means near), are classified as premier cru because they lie on the flat land as opposed to the better situated sites on the slope. … Read more

($44): Château de Chamirey is one of the top producers in Mercurey, probably the best village in the Côte Chalonnaise for red wine.   You can’t really go wrong with any of their wines.  Les Ruelles, a premier cru vineyard owned exclusively by Château de Chamirey, is especially attractive in 2011. … Read more

($16, Kobrand Wine And Spirits): St. Véran, an appellation nestled between Mâcon-Villages and Pouilly-Fuissé in prestige is often a fine value, offering a more sophisticated wine than the former at a price lower than the latter.  Jadot’s 2012 is just that. … Read more

($13, Kobrand Wine And Spirits): The 2012 vintage produced ripe white Burgundies, especially good news for “lesser” appellations, such as Mâcon-Villages, whose wines benefit from a touch more ripeness.  Jadot, one of Burgundy’s top producers, captured sufficient acidity to balance the ripe apple-like flavors. … Read more

($80, Henriot, Inc.): Vaudésir is always among the top two vineyards in any ranking of Chablis Grand Cru (Les Clos is the other).  And Domaine William Fevre is one of Chablis’ consistently finest producers.  So it’s not surprising that this is a stunningly stellar wine. … Read more

($25, Frederick Wildman & Sons): Chablis remains one of, if not the best, values for white wine.  Always made exclusively from Chardonnay, Chablis, when produced by dedicated growers such as Christian Moreau, delivers a unique profile of flintiness and verve, even at this lower end of the prestige ladder. … Read more

($65, Louis Latour USA): Simonnet-Febvre is one of the top producers in Chablis.  They eschew oak aging preferring to focus on the bracing minerality unique to the Chablis region, which gives their wines a lean, racy edginess.  The 2012 vintage was especially well suited to their style because it delivered fully ripe grapes with slightly lower apparent acidity, which meant that some producers’ wines lacked the usual verve of Chablis. … Read more

($26): Jean Marc Brocard, always one of my favorite Chablis producers, made a stunning array of wines in 2012.  This one, from old vines, whose average age is 68 years, is one of the best village Chablis I’ve ever had.  With wonderful intensity–but no heaviness–and balance, it has penetration, energy and extraordinary length, especially for a village wine. … Read more

($50, Schneider’s of Capitol Hill): Savigny-lès-Beaune, a small village just north of Beaune, is a good source for authentic Burgundy.  Alex Gambal, an American who is one of Burgundy’s rising stars, makes elegant and refined wines under the guidance of his winemaker, Geraldine Godot. … Read more

($45, Schneider’s of Capitol Hill): Chorey-lès-Beaune, like Savigny-lès-Beaune, is another good source of reasonably — for Burgundy — priced wines.  The wines from Chorey tend to be a touch more robust than those from Savigny.  Gambal’s Chorey-lès-Beaune conveys more black fruit than red and has an engaging immediate impact, without sacrificing any of what has become the purity and elegance that marks Geraldine Godot’s winemaking. … Read more

($27, Frederick Wildman & Sons): The 2012 vintage in Burgundy is good news/bad news.  The good news is that, in general, the reds were excellent.  The bad news is that the crop was decreased markedly by bad weather, which means much higher prices. … Read more

($60, Henriot, Inc.): The Vaulorent vineyard is the only premier cru vineyard that sits on the so-called Grand Cru hill of Chablis and is adjacent to the Grand Cru vineyards.  Wines from this vineyard are frequently sold under the more recognized vineyard name, Fourchaume. … Read more

($20): Borcard hit a bull’s eye with their Chablis in 2012, a relatively riper year.  They harvested a bit early and captured gorgeous mouth-watering acidity in their entire line of wines.  Their village Chablis, dubbed Sainte Claire, is an extraordinary value given the complexity and verve it delivers. … Read more

($27, Dreyfus Ashby & Co): Pouilly Fuissé lacks the respect the appellation deserves.  Sure, there’s lots of mediocre wine masquerading under the popular Pouilly Fuissé label.   But one taste of Drouhin’s shows why this category is so popular.  Drouhin’s 2012 is mineraly, lemony and stony. … Read more

($22, Louis Latour USA): Chablis remains one of the best bargains for white Burgundy and this one from Louis Latour, one of Burgundy’s best producers, should be snapped up.  This village Chablis — Chanfleure is the name of the pipette used to extract wine from a barrel for tasting — is clean and crisp with underlying invigorating minerality and a zesty lemony finish. … Read more

($20, Frederick Wildman & Sons): Olivier Leflaive, a talented négociant based in Puligny-Montrachet, consistently produces top-notch white Burgundies at all levels.  This east-to-enjoy Bourgogne Blanc, though coming from the low end of the prestige ladder, delivers far more than you’d expect from the price.… Read more

($31, Frederick Wildman & Sons): Domaine Faiveley, a leading Burgundy estate and négociant, owns a substantial amount of choice vineyards in Mercurey, a village in the Côte Chalonnaise.  This village wine from their vineyards, dubbed La Framboisière, is always one of their successes. … Read more

($20): This Pouilly Fuissé from Louis Latour, one of Burgundy’s best producer, is a “go-to” bottling when looking for a Chardonnay-based wine.  Crisp, and clean with a hint of creaminess, it shows the elegance and allure of white Burgundy.  Unlike many New World Chardonnays, it’s not opulent. … Read more

($34, Dreyfus-Ashby): Côte de Beaune is an unusual appellation, not to be confused (though it often is) with Côte de Beaune-Villages or simply Beaune.  It is comprised of a few vineyards located above Beaune — but not in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune — on the Montagne de Beaune. … Read more

($33, Jeanne-Marie de Champs Selection): Lafouge is a star producer in Auxey-Duresses, an off the beat track village that is becoming better known as a place to find high quality reasonably priced Burgundy.  Good concentration, charming cherry-like note and a balancing savory finish makes this is an easy wine to recommend for current consumption with a roast chicken.… Read more

($35, Jeanne-Marie de Champs Selection): Since the late 1980s when Jean Nicolas reclaimed previously leased vineyards and took over running the domaine, Méo-Camuzet has rapidly become among the star producers in Vosne-Romanée, with their top reds, Richebourg and Cros Parentoux, selling for $1,000 a bottle. … Read more

($26, Jeanne-Marie de Champs Selection): Viré-Clessé is a relatively new appellation (1998) that was created from two towns, Viré and Clessé, that were formerly included with the more general Macon-Villages because the wines from those towns were judged to be more distinctive. … Read more

($27, Jeanne-Marie de Champs Selection): Domaine Jobard is a small domaine worth watching because fine winemaking runs in the family.  Laurence Jobard, mother of Claudie, the current winemaker, was the winemaker at Maison Joseph Drouhin for 30 years.  The stature of this Rully, a village wine, comes from the old vines — their average age is 40-45 years. … Read more