2012 Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet Les Truffieres Premier Cru 750 ml

Puligny-Montrachet's "Center-Cut"

Allen Meadows’s Burghound has become bedtime reading for the most obsessive Burgundy collectors in America. Meadows covers only Pinot and Chardonnay — that’s it. He spends months in Burgundy, digging deeply into each cellar and every vintage. His reviews are often run-on rants. Some are wildly laudatory, others scathing. As to the 100-point scoring system, Meadows treats it as if it tops out at 96!

In the superb 2012 vintage in the villages of Chassagne- and Puligny-Montrachet, one in which the most precious limestone slope in the world turned out rich, wonderfully juicy Chardonnays that will age effortlessly for decades, Meadows was particularly high on Puligny’s small Premier Crus.

Just above the village in the center cut of the hillside, “Les Referts,” “Les Combettes,” and “Les Folatières” performed brilliantly in 2012. As to one of the tiniest First Growths, “Les Truffières,” 2012 could be the finest vintage since 2002. Not surprisingly, Louis Latour led the charge.

The 2012 Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet “Les Truffières,” tasted with Bernard Retornaz at HQ on the day that one of Burgundy’s most storied entrepreneurs and patriarchs passed away, was a marvel. Brilliant pale-green to the edge. Complex aromas of lemon, white peach, and acacia. Stony and mineral. Rich, juicy, and deep, still showing off great tautness and tension. Filled with luscious flavors of white peach, apple, and pear, finishing very long and suave, with noteworthy power and salinity. Drink now-2030!

92 points from Burghound. Just 110 cases made it stateside, 192 BOTTLES of which have been earmarked for WineAccess. Regularly $95. Just $75 today, shipping included on 3 — a pittance given the producer, the vintage, and the tiny production of one of white Burgundy’s most precious Premier Crus.