2012 Puligny Montrachet Les Perrieres

The 2012 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrieres, which comes from a half-hectare parcel, needed more coaxing than its siblings: quite a dense bouquet with lime cordial notes and dewy Granny Smith apples. The palate is medium-bodied, quite simple for a Perrieres on the entry, with pleasant hints of tropical fruit and dried orange peel, leading to a focused finish of moderate length that just fades a little, when I was hoping for a crescendo. Straight after visiting his brother Jacques, I crossed the road to visit Domaine Francois Carillon. Francois began working with his father Louis at the domaine in 1988. While Jacques only sources fruit from his own vines, Francois’s modus operandi is slightly different since, as well as his own share of inherited vines, he vinifies fruit from contracted growers. He adopts a prudent approach to oak, adamantly stating that he never uses more than 25% and he did not purchase any new wood in 2012. His was a decent set of 2012s, although in this vintage they did not quite achieve the rarefied heights of his brother’s portfolio that generally demonstrated more precision and mineralite. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham and through Corney & Barrow (UK)