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Nectar-like No-Oak White Burgundy, $24

Nearly all white wines from Burgundy spend some time oak. The barrels help develop the texture wines’, adding a roundness through micro-oxygenation. And while they’re typically less heavily oaked than many New World wines, the toasty notes are an important part of the great white Burgundies of Chassagne, Puligny, and Meursault. But not all white Burgundies are oaked.

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Elegance and Richness in White Burgundy: Old-Vine Pouilly-Fuissé

Excepting the famous towns surrounding Montrachet, the richest and most luxurious white Burgundies come from Pouilly-Fuissé. Grown an hour to the south of the Côte d’Or in the Maconnais, the wines of Pouilly-Fuissé show Chardonnay’s soft and opulent side. When carelessly made, Pouilly-Fuissé can be heavy and flat; but from a careful producer it can be a revelation.

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$22 Unoaked White Burgundy: Honeysuckle and Lemon

The monks of the Burgundy countryside play a crucial role in the story of French winemaking. For about a thousand years between the 5th and 15th centuries, French monks tended vines and made wine on the now famous slopes. Through tasting the products of the rich Burgundian soils (and often the soils themselves), they first developed the idea of terroir.