2019 Domaine Guffens-Heynen Pouilly-Fuisse Jus de Hauts de Vignes 1er Cru

A cuvée composed of the free run and first press juice from Guffens’s best parcels in the appellation, the 2019 Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Jus des Hautes des Vignes is showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus oil, nutmeg, white flowers and crushed chalk. Medium to full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, it’s concentrated and incisive, with the broadest shoulders of these three cuvées, concluding with a long, penetrating finish.

“Of course, you overrated my 2018s,” Jean-Marie Guffens informed me when we met to taste his 2019s—breaking his own rule that, if the scores are good, at least there’s no need to explain why the reviewer is wrong—”but everyone will underrate my 2019s.” At least the latter seems to be a distinct possibility, as this vintage was hard to taste young and took a long time to come together. Prodigiously concentrated, with incisive acids and imposing structure, I can’t wait to look at them again in bottle (in due course, from my own cellar, I will be able to revisit them in magnum and jeroboam, too). Since yields were so low, Guffens used all his press wine for his “Triangle de Guffens” (reviewed in this report under the Maison Verget label) and blended all his lieux-dits, so there are only three cuvées this year—which at least simplifies purchasing decisions: buy them all!”