2022 Albert Joly les Tremblots Puligny-Montrachet 750 ml

The best wines at Michelin-starred restaurants and up-and-coming spots aren’t printed on the menu. It’s because sommeliers know the best way to delight a discerning guest is with a special, off-menu selection like today’s 2022 Albert Joly les Tremblots Puligny Montrachet/

For years, this was Wine Access Advanced Sommelier Laura Koffer’s off-menu jewel at Napa’sItalian hotspot Bottega. “It’s a textbook Puligny that could convert any California Chardonnay fan and likewise delight a Burgundy collector.”

Charging from the glass with layers of ripe pear, lemon curd, and white peach, interwoven with delicate acacia blossom and crushed limestone, we agreed instantly. In fact, Joly’s bottling supports the classic argument that Burgundy isn’t only about taste. This stunning Chardonnay epitomizes what Puligny-Montrachet feels like: chiseled, laser-like, and utterly distinctive on the palate.

The Montrachet hillside is the world’s greatest white wine slope, and bottles from its most prized parcels—those skirting the municipal boundary between Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet like the Les Tremblots lieux-dit behind this wine—fetch prices that match the terroir’s stature: Grand Cru Montrachet starts at around $500 and can surpass $9,000. This is an exceedingly rare chance to drink from one of the world’s great white wine terroirs—for far less than the standard cost of entry.

Puligny-Montrachet is famous for its compact limestone and white-marl soils that become richer with clay and pebbles as one moves down the grade. The Joly family vines behind this crystalline bottling lie downslope, and range from 40 to 60 years-old. In warm, ample years like 2022 they yield tantalizing Chardonnay that delivers wave after bracing wave of fruit and acid and earth, beckoning you long after the last sip is gone