Jerome Guichard
Macon, France

Simply put, expectations are futile with the wines of Jerome Guichard. If you loved Bouchat last year, expect to love it again this year, but probably for completely different reasons. Pet-Nat 20 was killing me softly with its candied sherbet and residual sugars, and yet 21 is a whole different austere and dare I say ‘professional’ affair—bone dry and saline with a delicate pearly bead, reminiscent of a good disgorgement of Blanc d’Argile from Vouette & Sorbee (uh oh). Guichard is a master of mercuriality, absolutely impossible to pin down, and yet no matter the state of arrangement or derangement in his wines, they remain both sensual and thought provoking.

Mañana 2023
Pinot Noir
$47
A new cuvée of 100% Pinot Noir—hard to say what I expected from a Guichard Pinot but this is all dark cherries, tobacco, leather, anise, clove, bitter tannins and the perfect amount of acidic lift. The nose is absolutely beautiful thirty or so minutes after opening. Pop one now with a steak and some friends, save another for later.
Bouchat 2022
Chardonnay
$34