Tasting Notes
Robert Parker 96
The 2016 Mâcon-Pierreclos Juliette et les Vieilles de Chavigne hails from a parcel of vines (“Juliette”) that were stunted by the 2003 heatwave and which have always produced tiny yields: the more generous crop of 2016 gave Guffens sufficient volume to fulfill a long-standing ambition to vinify them separately; but the resulting juice was so intensely concentrated that he added some old-vine fruit from Chavigne (“les Vieilles”). The wine is quite extraordinary—and likely to number among the domaine’s greatest hits over the years—wafting from the glass with aromas of Anjou pear, ripe citrus fruit, dried white flowers and crushed chalk. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, powerful and enveloping, with a broad, expansive and multidimensional attack that’s supported by an incredibly incisive, racy line of acids, concluding with an electric, tongue-tingling finish. It’s a stunning wine that entirely subverts preconceived appellation hierarchies, and readers should make every effort to secure a few bottles.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040
