Every year, Verget confuses us all by releasing wines from various vintages and appellations. For the neat, logical and rational people out there, this must seem perverse. Why not concentrate our minds and tastebuds on one vintage and better still, release wines from widely different appellations separately?
Well firstly and most importantly, it’s important not to get hung up about vintages. The weather, markets, supply chains, cost of labour, tariffs, inputs and so on should not be the concern of wine lovers. All vintages produce wonderful bottles and it’s upon all of us to seek them out through delicious experimentation and drinking. The vagaries of one year to the next are one of the charms of wine; I want to drink the differences. So releasing wines from one vintage and another, often very different, not only allows us to draw comparisons, but also note the consistency of the producer. Did they come up with the goods, one year to the next, or not?
If there is one producer in Burgundy (and surrounds) who displays a level of virtuosity irrespective of appellation it is that of Verget and its owner/winemaker Jean Marie-Guffens. With this release, as with any we have encountered, the wines are generous, ample, intense and scintillating. I know of no other wine producer who captures the very essence of Chardonnay through their various bottlings and labels as Jean-Marie Guffens. We all have our fancies, prejudices and fads, but my palate has never tired of his wines.
A wine to introduce anyone to the delights of Chardonnay. Rich, ample, generous with pillowed softness. Jasmine, flint, stone fruits and fig. Clear and pure flavours, a dollop of cream to fill out the mid palate and citrus zest, lending line and tang. Absolute bargain.
Verget Macon-Villages Vallons de Larmartine 2020
As good as any Macon-Villages we have tasted. Intense aromatics of green apple, nectarine, spring jasmine and lime. Succulent and pulpy fruit, that genorisity of size and flavour we have come to epect from Guffens. Super tangy, as if the fruit’s just been picked. Stone fruits, citrus, cream, discreet wood and savoury spice. Invigorating freshness and salty, mineral acidity driving the palate.
Verget Macon-Charnay Clos Saint-Pierre 2021
A wine we have never tasted before and my favourite of the tasting. Very complex aromatics of apple, flint, fennel, gardenia, lavender honey, fresh lime, yellow peach and roasted nuts. Kapow! Massive impact from the massive attack of flavour. Scintillating, ample and with a round shape in the mouth. Super complex, tangy, tingly and compact. Unwinding with time with apple, cherry, blackcurrant, butter, fig, citrus and stone fruits. Chiseled, statuesque and dramatic.
