2022 Domaine Theulot Juillot Mercurey 1er Cru Les Saumonts Blanc

Les Saumonts is red-wine country. Theulot-Juillot makes one of the very few whites from it, and that's the point. The vineyard sits high on the hillside, between 300 and 325 metres, ringed by forest above Mercurey's north-west. Its reddish clay and limestone soils are studded with tiny fossils. Most growers would plant Pinot Noir here. Nathalie Theulot planted mass-selection Chardonnay in 1998 instead. Her family's story in Mercurey goes back to the early 20th century. That's when Marguerite and Emile Juillot arrived and bought six parcels on the village's best slopes. Nathalie and Jean-Claude Theulot took the reins in 1987. They farm organically and pick by hand. For this wine Nathalie uses one-third new oak, and it shows in the build. There's more body here than in the domaine's other Premier Cru white. Expect layers of citrus peel, stone fruit and brown spice. Then salty freshness and mouthwatering acidity snap it back into line. It's Burgundy with a genuine point of difference, from a village most wine travellers still drive straight past.