The 2017 Puligny-Montrachet Les Vieilles Vignes is still a little shut down after bottling, opening in the glass with notes of white peach, orange oil, wheat toast and pastry cream. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, with a delicately textural attack, lively acids and a long, precise finish. Even though this is one of the house's more accessible cuvées, it will really reward a year or two of bottle age with greater plenitude and expression.

Creamy, boasting peach, hazelnut, lemon and butterscotch flavors, with hints of spice. Shows harmony and finishes with bright acidity and lingering citrus and spice notes. Drink now through 2021. 700 cases imported.??–BS??Region: France / Burgundy / Puligny-Montrachet Select to Add

A lean, understated white, with ample mineral, citrus, apple and spice flavors. Shows tension and electricity, with a long finish of vanilla, clove and allspice. Best from 2016 through 2023. 800 cases imported.??–BS??Region: France / Burgundy / Puligny-Montrachet Select to Add

The 2009 Puligny-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes is a beautifully radiant, expressive wine endowed with supple fruit and an accessible personality. The roundness of the fruit flows through nicely to the generous finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012+. Vincent Girardin is among the producers who have made the most dramatic changes in response to the issue of premature oxidation. Girardin has increased the amount of time his wines spend on their lees, has lowered new oak, has eliminated batonnage and has basically re-built his entire approach from the bottom up, which I have to say, is quite impressive. The 2009s were harvested beginning on September 15, with natural alcohols in the 12.5-13% range. The wines were bottled between mid-March and mid-May 2011. Today the 2009s are quite fresh and still showing some of the effects of their recent bottling. It is safe to say the wines Girardin is making today are quite different from those of the past. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802

A white that verges on creamy in texture, offering grapefruit, vanilla and apple flavors. Turns a little bracing on the finish. Drink now through 2014. 300 cases imported.??–BS??Region: France / Burgundy / Puligny-Montrachet Select to Add