It may be time for us to stop referring to Saint-Aubin as an ‘outer-borough’ or ‘second-tier’ appellation—the wines we’re seeing from this village, especially the whites, have been consistently outperforming many more-famous (and more-expensive) bottlings from its prestigious neighbors in Puligny and Chassagne.
However, much as we might be inclined to place Saint-Aubin on equal footing with the ‘big three’ white-wine villages of the Côte de Beaune, that might mean missing out on scandalous bargains like today’s “Sur le Sentier du Clou” Premier Cru from Vincent Prunier. It doesn’t take long to get from Puligny to Saint-Aubin, and of course one of Saint-Aubin’s two strips of Premier Cru vineyards directly abuts the Grand Cru-studded ‘Mont Rachet’ hill; already we’re seeing upward price movement among some of Saint-Aubin’s starrier producers, which is one reason I’m hoarding bottles like this 2014. This is one of those wines I hope we’re still able to find in a few years—real-deal, cellar-worthy white Burgundy at a fraction of the cost of many wines it surpasses. This is the second Prunier Premier Cru we’ve offered from 2014, and unfortunately, our supply of “Le Sentier du Clou” is more limited—we can offer up to 4 bottles per customer until it sells out, and at this price, I suspect it will, and quickly.
As we’ve noted before, many Burgundy observers characterize Saint-Aubin as an appellation to watch, because of its steeper, higher-altitude vineyards and cooler temperatures in relation to Chassagne and Puligny; the thinking is that the appellation is better-situated to weather rising global temperatures. Domaine Vincent Prunier is based a little further north in another out-of-the-way village, Auxey-Duresses, though the property’s vineyard holdings, totaling 12.5 hectares, include parcels in Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, and Volnay along with Auxey and Saint-Aubin. The wines are hand-harvested and vinified in a very classic, traditional manner, and aged in a mix of new and used French oak barriques for about a year before bottling.
“Sur le Sentier du Clou” is part of the band of Premier Cru sites that runs from the village of St-Aubin proper over to the hamlet of Gamay (Prunier also bottles a wine from a Premier Cru downslope called “Les Frionnes,” which we’ve offered previously). It’s as if this strip of vineyards is up on shelf, looking down at the other Saint-Aubin Premier Crus (“En Remilly,” “Murgers des Dents de Chien”) across the valley, which abut the Grand Crus of Puligny/Chassagne. While well-exposed to the east/southeast, “Sur le Sentier du Clou” is a cooler site, and, like “Frionnes,” it delivered a Chardonnay that is at once deeply satisfying and blessed with terrific tension. And once again, it’d be very hard to taste this wine blind and not think it was top-tier Puligny-Montrachet costing twice as much.
In the glass, the 2014 “Sur le Sentier du Clou” is a pale straw-gold with hints of green at the rim, with aromas of yellow apple, white peach, citrus pith, white button mushroom, and crushed stones. Similar sensations show through on the palate, which is medium-plus in body but still tightly would—this is a very classically structured white Burgundy that needs a good hour in a decanter (and a slightly warmer temperature, like 55 degrees) to fully reveal its charms. If you decide to lay this down, I think you’ll be handsomely rewarded in 10, even 20, years. I see this entering its peak drinking window around its 10th birthday; if you’re enjoying a bottle now, give it a rough decant, serve it in big glasses for animated swirling, and pair it with a rich fish preparation that will put it to work. The attached recipe has an appealing (and kindred) mix of flavors for this wine. Enjoy!
