"It's clear now that 2014 is an exceptional vintage for whites both in style and quality - I've never seen anything like these wines.'

Romaric Chavy is getting his moment in the sun. Since taking over from his father in 2005, he has

boosted quantity and is now selling four times as much wine.  Plus he has also boosted quality to never before seen heights. He is a go getter and one of the most mellow, even tempered winemakers I have had the pleasure of dealing with. You are all about to taste his magnificent 2013's for the first time and will come to realize this is one of the up and coming superstars in the Cote de Beaune. His wines have astonishing clarity and purity, which for me, is what his signature is. Next, he has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to his terroir. He has top 1er Crus in Meursault and Puligny plus a number of the top lieu-dits in those villages as well. There are not many who have this stupendous selection of terroir along with incredible winemaking skills.

One of my favorite wine critics is in Burgundy now and he is tasting at many of the top estates and he is very, very high on 2014 Burgundy and whites in particular. His name is Claude Kolm and he is one the longest tenured critics in the business. His palate is impeccable and right up the alley of many if not most Fass Selections clients. He specializes in Germany and Burgundy. In a sea of critics, Claude is one of the best and is less well known than he should be, because he is not self-marketer. Here is his blog where you can e-mail him to get his newsletter, which I highly recommend. Anyway, Claude is very high on 2014 burgs, especially white as I have said previously. Here are some quotes from his blog as he is in Burgundy now. The pattern is clear, 2014 White Burgundy is very special.

" . . . . confirming yet again that 2014 is a special vintage for white wines." 

" . . .I continue to be amazed by the quality of the 2014 whites . . . ."

"It's clear now that 2014 is an exceptional vintage for whites both in style and quality - I've never seen anything like these wines.' 

Claude Kolm

With that I can offer the beautiful and delightful 2014 Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet "Enseigneres" for as little as $41.99 on a bottle on the 3-pack. Enseigneres, made famous by Coche Dury is one of my favorite sites in all of Puligny. Adjacent to the Grand Cru Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet this wine combines the intensity and power you get from a Grand Cru with classic Puligny character of flowers, toasted hazelnuts, iodine and top notch finesse. There is also the signature Chavy-Chouet clarity and precision. One needs to pay much more for Puligny of this character. This is an easy wine to fall for, especially in the juicy, clean, forward and nervy style that 2014 is shaping up to be. It has terrific energy on the palate and an almost opulent mid palate with such an incredulous amount of depth. At the same time it is massive and precise with wonderful cleansing acidity. Quite a balancing act. This has terrific underlying structure and is built to age for the medium term but because of the juicy, forward nature of the 2014 vintage this will be highly enjoyable as a young wine. At $42 a bottle (compare ANY Enseigneres at $55-$516 a bottle in 13/14) this is a an absolute steal from one of the great terroirs of Puligny.

Next up we have one of my favorite Pommard village wines, the 2014 Pommard Les Chanlins for as little as $49.99 on a 3-pack. This is executed perfectly by Romaric who is just as talented in making red wine as he is white wine. There was some hail in Pommard but through vigorous vineyard work he cut yields and made an exceptional and very concentrated Pommard.  There is the requisite power that comes with Pommard and exceptional tiny berry juiciness. Power and elegance plus the extra concentration boost from very low yields. This has wonderful ripe tannins and it is a chewy wine as many a young Pommard can be, but with some air and the juicy, fruit driven style of the young 14's, this can be approached early with a 2-3 hour decant and will be able to age for 12-15 years. It truly is remarkable how many great sites he has as I have always loved Chanlins as Lafouge and Marechal make a version and to me it is one of the most unheralded great sites in Pommard. The red version of Enseigneres if you must, yet not famous because there is no Coche Dury making a version of it, so a relative value. One producer who makes a knockout version of a wine from a heralded vineyard in Burgundy can knock up the price very high. That is not the case with the wonderful Pommard Chanlins.  So the price is always reasonable for one of the great slept on sites in Pommard. Romaric's version is one of understated purity.

2014 Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet "Enseigeneres" - $43.99

 ($125.97 3-pack) (LIMITED)

2014 Chavy-Chouet Pommard "Les Chanlins" - $52.99 ($149.97 3-pack) (LIMITED)