Technical Notes
Crafted by Jean-Marie Guffens, this cuve is sourced from old-vine Chardonnay parcels in Les Combes, a prized site within Pouilly. The vines, many over 50 years old, deliver naturally low yields and concentrated fruit. Harvest is done by hand, with careful sorting to preserve purity. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in used French oak barrels, followed by aging on fine lees for added depth and finesse. The 2024 vintage, marked by moderate ripeness and excellent acidity, highlights both power and precision.

Terroir Notes
Les Combes is situated at the foot of Vergisson, in a natural hollow that benefits from cooler air currents at night. The soils here combine clay and limestone, producing wines with both richness and tension. The old vines, deeply rooted in these rocky soils, channel the minerality of the terroir while delivering remarkable density and length.

Tasting Notes
The 2024 Les Combes Vieilles Vignes opens with aromas of ripe pear, golden apple, and citrus blossom, layered with hints of hazelnut and wet stone. The palate is generous yet finely etched, with a creamy texture balanced by a bright mineral line. Flavors of white peach, lemon curd, and subtle spice unfold into a long, harmonious finish, marked by both freshness and depth.

Style & Pairing
This cuve combines the concentration of old vines with the elegance of Vergisson terroir, offering a Chardonnay of both structure and refinement. Pair with butter-poached lobster, roasted monkfish, or rich poultry dishes. Drink now for its purity of fruit, or cellar for 68 years to allow further complexity to emerge.

FOR COMPARISON

94 Wine Advocate
Drink Date: 2025 – 2040
It’s always hard to choose between this bottling and La Roche, and as usual, the 2023 Pouilly-Fuiss Les Combes Vieilles Vignes is a touch richer and broader out of the gates. Picked in three separate harvests (collecting only the ripest grapes on each passage), the Verget team pulled out all the stops to craft a medium to full-bodied, layered and satiny wine that’s seamless and complete, evoking aromas of pear, honeycomb, white flowers and toasted nuts.
Domaine Guffens-Heynen may be the label that makes collectors line up in wait, but Maison Verget has long ranked as one of the Mconnais’s top addresses in its own right. The 2023 vintage, a strong rival to the house’s 2020 portfolio, only underlines that. As I’ve written before, Verget’s Sologny winery is a sizable facility, unlike the tiny cellars of Domaine Guffens-Heynen, but artisanal methods have been intelligently scaled to match the requirements of larger-scale production: large horizontal stainless steel tanks, for example, offer the same lees-wine ratio as oak barrels, and the lees can be worked with nitrogen without introducing any oxygen into the vessel. Such inventivenessand Desplans’s evident fastidiousnessexplain how Verget can offer such quality on such a scale. The best cuves very much belong among the Mconnais lite, but this portfolio is also rich with terrific values to purchase by the case, which would make ideal daily drinkers or by-the-glass pours. Published:Nov 07, 2024, Reviewed by: William Kelley

92pts Vinous (2023, 2024 NYR)
The 2023 Pouilly-Fuiss Les Combes Vieilles Vignes comes from the village of Pouilly and was picked three times. This is all about precision on the nose, not powerful yet precise, with touches of limestone percolating through the citrus fruit. Hints of white flower emerge with aeration. The palate is well balanced with ample weight and depth. It’s grippy and almost Chassagne-like, with a very persistent finish. Excellent. Drinking Window: 2026 – 2038– ByNeal MartinonJune 2025

Julian Desplans was on hand to guide me through the wines of Maison Verget and Domaine Jean-Marie Guffens, as the Belgian was down in Luberon. Guffens did send a message later on that he hadnt been told I was visiting. Desplans assured me that his boss was present for almost the entirety of the previous harvest.

Hail damaged four hectares of Maison Verget, Desplans told me, but the Domaines parcels were hardly affected. The main problem, certainly in Pierreclos, was the flowering. In 2024 we have fewer than 20,000 bottles, around 35% less than 2023, even though that was a good harvest for the Domaine. We cropped at around 45 hl/ha, which is less than some people around us who cropped at 100. The fruit was healthy. For the Domaine wines, we are close to 2020 as we didnt have such a huge harvest. The picking started around September 11 and finished at the end of the month. It was better to wait and not start too early. The levels of sugar were fine as it had been quite hot, and the wines are between 12.7% to 13.5% alcohol.

As I have written before, Guffens wines have been lavished with praise and have prices to match. The surrounding fanaticism seems odd after so many years when the wines were seen as simply great quality and value. Some of what I have read is hyperbole; however, there has never been any doubt that when Guffens and his team hit the bullseye, they achieve a level rarely equaled. There is some kind of magic there, derived from Guffens personality (as I discussed in my standalone piece a few years ago, aptly titled Refusing to Follow the Script). Desplans is almost the polar opposite of Guffens, seemingly unflappable and calm, though they share the same refreshingly candid opinions. I would agree that in 2023 the best quality resides with the Domaine wines, not least the Pouilly-Fuiss C.C. and the almost Coche-like Mcon-Pierreclos Juliette et Les Vieilles de Chavigne. These are brilliant wines and are imbued with an unerring ability to age.