2006 Puligny-Montrachet, Les Referts, 1er Cru, Arnaud Ente, Burgundy

Cask sample

Very pale. Tight and smoky nose. Introverted, sleek and quite concentrated. Long. A creamy version of Puligny. Served after the Seve du Clos and without quite the intensity. It's still quite chewy on the finish. Very neat. Pretty good persistence. 

From 40+ year-old vines.

This, too, possesses a deft touch of wood to set off a layered nose of very ripe yellow fruit and white flower aromas that merge gracefully into voluminous, naturally sweet and textured flavours that are quite round and forward, if not soft, yet this tightens up quickly on the refined, pure and vibrant finish—a stylish and classy effort.

Drink from 2012 onward

From nearly 50-year-old vines picked on the first day of harvest, Ente’s 2006 Puligny-Montrachet Referts offers a remarkably refreshing and vibrant expression of Puligny, yet at the same time, a creaminess of texture not possessed by any of the other wines in this collection. Bitter-sweet and piquant notes of iris, toasted nuts, buckwheat, lime zest, and pit fruits with their pits make for a relatively austere set of flavours, but ones that finish with formidable persistence and intriguing interaction. A faint hint of heat confirms Ente’s conviction that Puligny is inherently more sensitive to over-ripeness.

Very pale color. A floral top note lifts precise aromas of lime and mint. Dense, smooth and stylish, with a fine-grained texture that's totally different from the Meursault bottlings. At once silky and high-pitched. The Seve du Clos is more sappy and tactile, but this is more refined. Finishes very long and aromatic, with terrific subtlety of flavour. Ente clearly loves Puligny wines, so it's hardly surprising that he makes Meursault in a Puligny style.