2016 Pouilly Fuisse Les Menetrieres

There are only 180 magnums of the 2016 Pouilly-Fuissé Ménétrières, and Dupperay is threatening to keep them all to himself; in the event that any bottles do find there way onto the market, readers shouldn't think twice about acquiring them. Offering up notes of Anjou pear, dried flowers, honeycomb, hazelnut cream and iodine, it's full-bodied, multidimensional and complete, with a layered and satiny attack, incredible depth and tangy acids, concluding with a long and electric finish. Powerful but weightless, it's a remarkable achievement. Describing a wine as thrilling as this is always a challenge, but readers wishing to get a sense of its style and quality should imagine what a grand cru Puligny-Montrachet made by Arnaud Ente might taste like.

Clay-limestone and Guyot trained. 180 magnums produced and only 12 bottles (for tasting).  Very fine. Very stony. Smells chalkily dry. Tastes incredibly salty and saliva-provoking (the pH is 3–3.1). So dry it seems almost to have some tannins. Super-intense and very long. Some grapefruit but the fruit is not the key here. Not creamy or generous – all in the length and the precision. (JH)