2016 Puligny Montrachet Les Referts

The 2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts reveals immense potential, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp Anjou pear, lemon oil, iodine, white peach and a delicate framing of oak vanillin. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, with a deep, concentrated core, racy acids and a long, intensely mineral finish. Both more elegant and more intense than the Perrières this year, it's a classic Referts that will require 5 or 6 years of bottle age. I wish I had purchased it for my own cellar.

(from a crop level of about 47 hectoliters per hectare): Pale, bright yellow. Ripe aromas of yellow peach, soft citrus fruits and spices. Rounder and riper than usual for this bottling, which is usually more taut in the early going, but without quite the concentration of Carillon's best 2016s. Aged in just 20% oak but one is aware of the wood element as there's only moderate buffering richness. Carillon believes that a rain shower in early September helped these grapes achieve maturity but may have resulted in a bit of dilution.

The 2016 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru les Referts was not touched by the frost, thanks to the cloud cover. It has a perfumed bouquet of citrus fruit and white flowers, gentle and “flowing” from the glass. The palate is vibrant and taut on the entry. This has the best tension and nervosite of Carillon’s three premier crus with great persistence on the finish. This may actually surpass the 2015 Les Referts—superb. Dec 2017, www.robertparker.com