“Surround yourself with good company,” they say. It’s sound advice that extends into wine—Burgundy especially. It truly does pay off to be in the midst of the greatest vineyards of them all: the Premier Crus and, of course, the rarefied Grand Crus. Today, we home in on Puligny-Montrachet—the commune touted as
the singular place for high-end Chardonnay.
Here, you’ll find the cluster of Grand Cru ‘Montrachets’ and some of the finest Premier Crus anywhere in Burgundy. Then you have today’s undercover superstar, “Les Charmes,” a tiny ‘Burgundy insider’
lieu-dit that neighbors some of the greats and hugs Puligny’s southern border with Meursault. To the west is the legendary trifecta of Puligny Premier Crus “Les Referts,” “Les Combettes,” and Les Perrières, while to the north is Meursault’s very own “Les Charmes”—an exceptional site that deserves Grand Cru status. Puligny’s “Les Charmes,” while somehow ‘unranked’, is nevertheless a revered site, and as such, the region’s top producers scrap over each row of vines (Nudant only owns
half of one hectare). Tasting this 2016 ended the discussion (for me, anyway) as to who is making the top expression here: Powerful and vibrant, with near-mythical levels of minerality, you simply cannot find a better “Les Charmes” than Nudant’s. Whether you drink this now or in ten years, it deserves to be mentioned with any elite sub-$100 white Burgundy, regardless of vineyard status!
And it’s not like the Nudants are new at this: The family has roots in the region going back to 1453. We all know Burgundy is steeped in history, but to find a family that carries the same surname and crafts wine after all this time is a rarity. However, the estate didn’t see noticeable expansion until 1950, under the guidance of André Nudant. His son, Jean-René, followed in the late 1970s, and a quarter century later, Jean-René’s son came aboard—notice a pattern here?
As is often the case in Burgundy, the Nudants own 16 hectares across a wide number of appellations, 20 to be exact. When you break it down, approximately two acres for each appellation doesn’t seem worthy enough to get out of bed every morning—but with Burgundy’s highly sought-after real estate, it’s more than plenty. Their microscopic sliver of vines in “Les Charmes” is even smaller: at barely over one acre, they were able to cull enough Chardonnay to produce a mere 250 cases in 2016. Jean-René and Guillaume focus on chemically-free vine control, constant plowing, and a strict selection process in order to emerge with the finest crop possible. At their winery in Ladoix-Serrigny, the grapes are de-stemmed and undergo both a cold maceration and long fermentation. The juice is then gently pressed and sent into French barrels, 33% of which are renewed on an annual basis. After 12 months in oak, the final wine is transferred into stainless steel tanks to allow for additional settling.
First off, I couldn’t get enough of our sample bottle, so I absconded with the remainder and matched it with roasted chicken and morel mushrooms. With my fiancée and our baby wedged in between, it was one of life’s simple pleasures—where wine, atmosphere, and food all complemented one another. Nudant’s sensational 2016 “Les Charmes” displays a blindingly bright hue that shimmers with yellow and platinum reflections. It instantly reveals a dazzling array—though I would recommend a minimum one hour decant—of ripe yellow apple, white peach, honeysuckle, fresh white flowers, lime blossoms, crushed almonds, struck match (not dissimilar to wines from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey), Mirabelle plums, and Meyer lemon, all interwoven with baking spices and finely crushed earth. The palate is rich, vibrant, and builds on a powerful foundation of crushed-rock minerality—it’s an archetypal example of world-class Puligny-Montrachet. With a slight creaminess, bracing acidity, and a wonderfully savory finish, this is still young and has immense cellar potential! Serve in your largest Burgundy stems around 55 degrees and hide away your remaining bottles for however long you want—10, even 20 more years! Enjoy!
