The 2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts reveals immense potential, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp Anjou pear, lemon oil, iodine, white peach and a delicate framing of oak vanillin. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, with a deep, concentrated core, racy acids and a long, intensely mineral finish. Both more elegant and more intense than the Perrières this year, it's a classic Referts that will require 5 or 6 years of bottle age. I wish I had purchased it for my own cellar.

(from a crop level of about 47 hectoliters per hectare): Pale, bright yellow. Ripe aromas of yellow peach, soft citrus fruits and spices. Rounder and riper than usual for this bottling, which is usually more taut in the early going, but without quite the concentration of Carillon's best 2016s. Aged in just 20% oak but one is aware of the wood element as there's only moderate buffering richness. Carillon believes that a rain shower in early September helped these grapes achieve maturity but may have resulted in a bit of dilution.

Tank sample. Yellowy straw. Some dried grasses on the nose, which seems rather less intense than Les Perrières but Jacques Carillon is in the habit of serving Les Referts after Les Perrières because it is ‘more mineral’. Lots of juice and appeal on the palate. Very straight and chewy and fine. More rigorous than Les Perrières. (JR)