Francois Carillon Puligny Montrachet 2009

Both fruit and perfume at first strike the nose with the gravitas that goes with the vintage and Puligny terroir but then… it exhales and smiles with the familiarity of a nobleman returning home to at last drop his shoulders and be himself among his family. Grilled papaya and confectioner’s sugar keep the nose from any robust mineral that might otherwise dominate and the palate is a mélange of textural fruit and fragrance. Perhaps this is Chardonnay’s darling side that packs fried chicken picnics for drives up the hills above Monte Carlo like Grace Kelly at her best in Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. Do you remember when she playfully asks Cary Grant what sort of piece he’d like “a leg or a breast?” Carillon’s 2009 is the cheery sort of Puligny that engages more than intimidates and wraps its arms about your neck making you feel like the only one in the world. “That’s warm, friendly France for you!”
Wine review by Nicholas D. Livingston, September 2011