Macon Pierreclos Juliette et Les Vieilles de Chavigne, Domaine Guffens-Heynen 2023

The 2023 Mâcon-Pierreclos Juliette et les Vieilles de Chavigne is the latest rendition of this singular cuvée, a sort of ne plus ultra bottling from his holdings in Le Chavigne, blending juice from a parcel of 20-year-old vines named "Juliette" (a former aviator, Guffens enumerates his various parcels in lieu-dit Chavigne using the phonetic alphabet) that was stunted in the 2003 heat wave with juice from old vines in neighboring parcels. Every rendition to date has been extraordinary, and the 2023 is no exception. While it was less aromatically put together than some of the other cuvées in the range when I tasted it, there was no mistaking its deep, exotic bouquet or its full-bodied, muscular and multidimensional palate. Long, dense and girdled by chalky dry extract, it's nipping at the heels of the Croux this year.

This special cuvée was first produced in 2016 and is only made in great vintages. It is produced from a small low-yielding plot called "Juliette" and some of the oldest vines in the Chavigne vineyard. Elevage all in oak barrels of which 50% were new. Pale yellow with flecks of gold. An immediate sense of density and depth on the nose comes with confit lemon, freshly baked pastries, star anise and fennel seed. The palate is a complete knockout, up there with the best ever nascent wines from this domaine. The power of fruit is almost overwhelming, a concentrate of lemon oil, white peach and mirabelle plum. This comes together with racy, mouthwatering acidity and chalky, grippy extract. The wood is integrating superbly already, showing notes of toasted pine nuts, charcoal embers and baking spices. This is a satiny, silky wine despite the volume on show, everything comes with such a structural freshness. This is an outstanding wine, a Grand Cru in all but name. I expect it will go down as one of Jean-Marie's great wines in what is an incredible back catalogue.