We were rightfully flattered when our impression matched Vinous precisely; “The vineyard is certified and organic and Morat’s wines are matured in a combination of wood and stainless steel with prudent use of new oak to allow the mineralité of the vineyards to shine through, and this certainly is the case with his superb Pouilly-Fuissé that is a doppelganger for a Puligny-Montrachet.” Our panel also elevated this beauty to drink as if it were from the most pampered of all 1er and Grand Cru communes, from the vicinity of which $27 MAY get you a taste, by the glass when restaurants reopen!

Vergisson could very well mean “Chardonnay Eden” in French as it’s the perfect ‘terroir’ for it with clay and limestone galore in the soil and eternal sunshine that leaves the Northern parts envious in any given Burgundian growing season. With less and less wine made due to Mother Nature acting up in this part of the world regularly now as of late, finding ANY wine that is available from a great vintage like 2016 is getting to be a true challenge, let alone a stupendous deal like this! Double the 92-points truthfully assure you that this unbelievable White Burgundy value won’t last.

Glimmering white gold to a deeper shine in the core with abundant translucence, this is jewelry to the eye! Crunchy Granny Smith apples, lemon verbena, exotic lemongrass, and hazelnuts all adorn the expressive, perfumed nose. The gorgeous texture of sublime fruit to balancing acidity, resonating citrus, and spice fill in the palate with joy. Candied ginger, lime rind, and passionfruit emerge and crescendo to a long finale, surmounting to a truly impressive finish that leaves the mouth yearning for more. For a match made in “Chardonnay Eden”, pan sear the freshest scallops you can locate, crusted in nuts, with a beurre blanc.

To define this stylistically happy wine that sits right between Old World austerity and New World abundance, let us revert to Vinous again - Mr. Stephen Tanzer, what do you think? “Morat particularly likes the precision of aromas and the finesse of the 2016s, which he told me are similar to his ‘14s “in their technical parameters.” He started harvesting on September 26, bringing in his fruit with 12% to 13.5% potential alcohol. He told me he did 14 vineyard treatments in 2016 owing to mildew pressure and that the favorable September weather saved the harvest. He never acidifies his wines or blocks their malolactic fermentations, and his Pouilly-Fuissés, which were bottled between May and August, finished with acidity levels between 4 and 4.1 grams per liter. Incidentally, Morat has stopped using oak from the Vosges forest as he finds it too sweet. “Oak from the center of France is more neutral; I don’t want my wood to bring any aromas but Vosges oak sometimes brings artificial notes.” The ‘16s at this address possess lovely balance and texture; in fact, I marginally preferred them to the atypically rich, high-octane 2015s. Morat considers them more taut than his 2015s and likely to live longer in bottle.”

That enough detail? Hope there’s some left if you read this far!

Here’s what the wine press has to say:

92 Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate - “The 2016 Pouilly-Fuissé Terroir de Vergisson has a simple apple blossom and gunflint-scented bouquet that would benefit from a little more energy. The palate is fresh on the entry with a tang of dried orange peel and ginger, vibrant and harmonious in the glass with impressive weight and length on the finish. There is complexity interwoven into this Pouilly-Fuissé from start to finish. Simply outstanding and it comes highly recommended. Drink 2018-2028.”

92 Points –Wine Enthusiast - “Full bodied and rich, this is a generous wine. Its richness and tropical-fruit character is balanced by intense acidity that cuts through and gives it a lift. Drink this ripe wine now.”