Lamy Pillot Saint Aubin – Les Pucelles 2015 – Patience is a Virtue

The wine today comes from a tiny producer in Cote de Beaune, Lamy Pillot. A name entrenched in Saint Aubin winemaking for generations. Reluctant, rising star (risen?) Sebastien Caillat serves as winemaker here, along with his own project, Domaine Lamy Caillat, for which he's probably more known. Domaine Lamy Pillot has holdings in the Grand Cru site Montrachet along with Chassagne Montrachet. As far as Chardonnay goes, this territory is arguably its zenith.

They also make four wines from the village of Saint Aubin: three wines from premier cru vineyards–en Créot, Les Combes, and Le Charmois—and one from the named climat (vineyard) Les Pucelles. In typical, complicated Burgundian fashion the Les Pucelles vineyard name is shared with the far more famous 1er cru vineyard in nearby Puligny Montrachet. Nothing is ever that simple in Burgundy.

“What’s so special about Saint Aubin?”

Good question. Until recently, it wasn’t all that special. Saint Aubin was seen as the poor man’s option. Unlike Chassagne or Puligny Montrachet, Saint Aubin has no grand cru vineyards, and only a handful of premier cru ones. It was stage dressing to the far more famous stars.

But climate change has a way of making a pauper into a prince. And Saint Aubin can produce some absolutely stunning wines now courtesy of its elevation and the south facing slopes on which its Chardonnay grows. Elevation combined with ripeness can spawn wines of beautiful tension and quiet power. Saint Aubin's notoriety has swelled in recent years, and so have the prices.

But back the wine…and me!

I discovered Lamy Pillot during my wine retail days. Lamy Pillot works with a small importer here in the US, Juan Prieto—a former baseball player turned sports psychologist if memory serves. As is often the case with small importers, Juan was dedicated, passionate, and reasonable. He had a fairly extensive book of Burgundian wines, and not a single one (Domaine Maillard and Domaine Michel Noellat were the ones I tried) was a bad wine.

At the time, circa 2017, I was fortunate enough to join the tasting that featured wines across his portfolio for the new vintage. I caught him as he was leaving, and spoke with all the raw, bubbly energy of an early kid in their 20s, “…I’m just getting started on my wine journey, and I thought the Les Pucelles was awesome. It’s a little pricey on my retail store salary, but during the tasting you said it was still young, so I’m curious, how long can it age?”

He paused for a moment and held my gaze, “That’s the sleeper wine. Always gets overlooked for its premier cru siblings. But it’ll go just as long. 10 years? Not a problem.”

10 years on from the vintage, and we’ve arrived.

Lamy Pillot Saint Aubin Les Pucelles 2015 – About $45 when I bought it, but recent releases will probably cost ~$60-$65. Death, taxes, and more expensive Burgundy is the way of life.

Nose– When white burgundy is done well, there’s a clarity to it. It’s hard not to get romantic, but it’s like still water over a lake. Everything is transparent and balanced. This wine, even seven years from the last time I tasted it, has that clarity. Meyer lemon, whipped butter, cream, and white fruits like pear and apple along with jackfruit. Not unexpected for cooler climate Chardonnay, there’s a green element to this, but with the age on this bottle I’d peg it for confit cabbage.

Palate– Mid-weight on the palate, yet with good length and development. Starts steely with stone fruits before switching over to a creamier texture with plenty of tropical fruits. Notably high acidity keeps this wine alive through the tug-of-war between its steely core and the richer notes provided by malolactic fermentation and oak. That sort of high-wire acidic tension is something that great Rieslings deliver, so to get this in a relatively humble white burgundy is impressive.

Finish– Finish is of medium length, but excellent saltiness provides balance against some of richer flavors imparted by the (modest by California standards) oak treatment. Those tropical fruits return, almost crystalline and dried.

If the goal of aging a wine to achieve a more harmonious wine, this wine would be a great poster child. It’s that clarity combined with complexity that makes Chardonnay, particularly from Burgundy, so endearing. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to buy one that fails to deliver. Not here though. Not today.

92/10 – An excellent ambassador for grape/style/region

Do you have a favorite wine from Saint Aubin? A favorite "reasonably" priced Burgundy?