2012 Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres
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Tasting notes
(just three barrels made in 2012, vs. a normal ten, from a crop level of 15 hectoliters per hectare): Bright yellow. Fruit-driven aromas of orange juice, lemon and pear. Highly concentrated and extract-rich but not at all exotic, showing a terrific sugar/acid balance to its intense orchard fruit flavors. This wonderfully fresh, dense wine is built for a graceful evolution in bottle but it may also give pleasure earlier than the 2013 owing to its sheer ripeness of fruit.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Deep citrus with a touch of orange pith and mealiness. Refined and cool. Moderate weight but fine chalky/stony length and very fresh on the finish. (JH)
The 2012 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatieres is more elegant than the Les Referts, understated at first, uncurling to reveal neatly placed mineral, sea cave and citrus aromas. The palate is again, very understated and coy on the entry, more a Puligny of texture and poise that obvious fruit intensity. Again, this deserves some time in bottle and I suspect will outlive the Folatieres. I have long admired the wines of this Maranges-based producer who have a knack of producing taut, linear, mineral-driven wines that are as intellectual as they are pleasurable. This was my first trip south to small village of Dezize-les-Maranges where I met Marc and Alex Bachelet who escorted me over to a separate tasting room. The brothers established the domaine back in 2005 with the aid of their father and uncle after honing their craft overseas and today they farm 20-hectares of both their own vines and rented vineyards. The tenets here are quite simple: no herbicides in the vineyard with regular ploughing to aerate the soil; early picking to capture acidity, long pressing, small deboubagement, natural ferments and around 20 to 30% new oak. Maturation is in large 350-litre barrels in order to make fresher wines for keeping, and their policy is for less oxygen during elevage, eschewing batonnage. The wines usually age for one year in barrel and they are then racked into stainless steel on the lees for 8 months and bottled in April. Their Puligny-based wines take center stage: a thrilling set that really get to the heart of the terroir, razor sharp wines that walk in their kitten heels instead of boots. But do not overlook their Santenay Blanc or their fabulous Maranges La Fussiere that doubtless represents outstanding value. Importer: Vintage 59, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 966-9218. Also available from various merchants in the UK (BBR, Bibendum, Justerini& Brooks and Tanners.)