Bonhomme

Like a number of his colleagues in the Mâconnais—and especially in the northern section of the region—Aurélien Palthey is a Riesling lover. Palthey, who took over responsibility for winemaking here from his grandfather André Bonhomme in 2008 while still in his mid-20s, told me that “yellow fruits and jam are not our style.” In the course of our tasting, Palthey compared wines from Quintaine to Meursaults, while those from Viré “are finer and more like Puligny-Montrachet.” STEPHEN TANZER

The wines of Bonhomme were one of the great finds for me a couple years back now. We are always on the look out for Burgundy that delivers everything we love about the region but at an affordable price. Increasingly that is a real challenge for us and our customers. Enter Bonhomme. They pack quite a punch, densely packed, rich and powerful wines that are underpinned by sizzling energy. Sourced from old vines and made with an attention to detail and focus on quality that is the recipe for success anywhere in the wine world. The 18s certainly don’t disappoint, overall, from what I tasted, they appear to be a lively and primary, juicy, feeling bracket that delivers a generous expression of their terroirs that have ample stuffing to age well, if that is your desire, but that are so enjoyable now that I would be inclined to go at them young. Interestingly there is also a goodly amount of buffering extract in the wines we tasted that adds a lovely textural appeal. Great wines at great prices. ROSCOE