2016 Domaine Étienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru

Bright medium yellow. Inviting aromas and flavors of lemon drop and musky lees lifted by floral and mineral elements. The light sulfidey character follows through on the palate, adding an element of complexity to this rather powerful, youthfully clenched wine. Offers an uncommon combination of density, definition and inner-mouth lift and finishes with a firm spine of tannins. There's still some musky oak to be absorbed but this very promising Combettes should enjoy a slow and graceful evolution.

The 2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes has a clean and precise bouquet with cold stone and flint aromas, great articulation of the terroir here with underlying hints of orange pith and pink grapefruit. The palate is well balanced with a fine thread of acidity, waxy in texture with a fine sense of drive, yet I would have liked to see more complexity and mineral expression towards the finish that just lets the side down here. Let’s see if it improves in bottle.

(Boudot has been steadily replanting his acreage with old massale vines over the past dozen years): Aromas of ripe apple, peach and hazelnut reminded me of Meursault. Silky, spicy, plush wine with a seductively mouthfilling character and no rough edges. Ripe juicy pear throughout. Finishes dry, juicy, gripping and long.