Macon Pierreclos Juliette et Les Vieilles de Chavigne, Domaine Guffens-Heynen 2018

The 2018 Mâcon-Pierreclos Juliette et les Vieilles de Chavigne is tightly wound and introverted, but its incredible tension and palate presence is impossible to miss. Unfurling in the glass with notes of crisp yellow orchard fruit, orange oil, nutmeg, fresh pastry and pears, it's full-bodied, deep and immensely incisive, with huge concentration and structuring dry extract, girdled by racy acids. Long and penetrating, this is one of the wines of the vintage in the Mâconnais. As readers will remember from the inaugural 2016 rendition, this cuvée hails from a parcel of vines ("Juliette") that were stunted by the 2003 heat wave and which have always produced tiny yields. The more generous yields of 2018 gave Guffens sufficient volume to fulfill a long-standing ambition to vinify them separately, and to this, Guffens added the fruit from his 1.05 hectares of old vines in Mâcon-Pierreclos, which yielded a mere 37 hectoliters. The resulting wine was fermented and matured in barrels, 50% of which were new. Drink 2026-2045.

The 2018 Mâcon-Pierreclos Juliette et les Vieilles de Chavigne is another fabulous rendition of this cuvée. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of minty green apples, pear and lime zest, it's full-bodied, deep and immensely layered, with searing concentration, striking structure and a long, intensely chalky finish. Cropped at a mere 36 hectoliters per hectare, this attained 15.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.15, the kind of chemistry that most winemakers can only dream of.