2018 Domaine Larue Les Combes Saint-Aubin Premier Cru 750 ml

When we scan the wine list at a new restaurant, one of the first things we look for is St.-Aubin. It’s an insider’s white Burgundy, an under-the-radar gem featuring the purity and energy of Meursault for a sliver of the cost. Of St.-Aubin’s wineries, there are few who can rival the depth and consistency of Domaine Larue’s Premier Cru wines.

This wine is the perfect opportunity for Burgundy devotees to flesh out their mental maps with a unique appellation. At the same time, it’s a springboard into the deep and nuanced world of white Burgundies. Either way, Les Combes’ amazing value compared to other similar-quality bottles makes it the perfect cellar stuffer or steal-the-show dinner party companion.

Decanter once pondered whether St.-Aubin might be “Burgundy’s best value village.” We certainly think so. We’ve had our fair share of world-class white burgundies. We’ve sat on terraces overlooking Meursault, sipping complex wines from the region’s stalwarts. But when the Domaine Larue Les Combes hit the bar during an oyster shucking class we attended, we had trouble focusing on the task at hand. Next to the cucumber-brine of the mollusks, it was heaven. 

Lovers of fine white Burgundies will relish in this wine’s mélange of beckoning aromatics and delicate balance, which will only get richer in the years to come. We were leaning in on the first pour, already wandering this wine’s labyrinthine aromas of golden apples, hazelnuts, and allspice, and wondering if we’d actually been poured a Meursault icon. The palate is focused, but rolling waves of quince, clove, and flinty minerality provide an exuberance that kept our glasses from hitting the table. 

A stone’s throw from the famed Chevalier-Montrachet and Montrachet slopes, Les Combes is one of Domaine Larue’s nine Premier Cru climats, one that consistently produces stellar Chardonnay. The site lies in a small valley that opens to the picturesque town of St.-Aubin, and this lower elevation yields a satisfying density on the palate to balance the site’s sunny exuberance. 

That land thrived in Burgundy’s 2018 vintage, which Wine Enthusiast said produce whites that “show real site expression” and “an aromatic finesse that will continue to beguile.” The Larue family has 75 years of experience working this land and a mnemonic library’s worth of knowledge for how to tend each of their diverse sites, so they knew exactly how to make the most of the year’s warm summer, producing a wine that absolutely falls into the 2018 group that Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate called “charming and nicely balanced wines.” 

After ten months in 20% new oak, this wine surfaces as a refreshing but contemplative expression, a proud representative of St.-Aubin’s exceptional quality and value, one that’s just at home beside high-stakes chess matches as it is on beachfront benches.