The 2006 Pouilly-Fuissé Le Clos de Monsieur Noly Reserve Vieilles Vignes spent fully twelve years in barrel, so I think it's safe to say that there's nothing remotely comparable being produced in Burgundy today. Wafting from the glass with complex aromas of rich dried fruit, golden apples, fresh mushroom, honeycomb, orange rind, marzipan and vanilla pod—complemented by a delicately oxidative top note of Oloroso sherry—the wine is full-bodied, rich and layered, with an ample and multidimensional core and plenty of lively energy despite its long élevage, concluding with a lingering and intensely saline finish. This saw longer in barrel and hails from a riper vintage than the 2004 Clos de Monsieur Noly, making for an even more singular style. Like all of Valette's wines, it responds very well to an hour or two in a decanter.

Matured for fully 84 months in barrel, the 2004 Pouilly-Fuissé Le Clos de Monsieur Noly Reserve Vieilles Vignes is an extraordinary wine in a singular style that wafts from the glass with a complex bouquet of ripe peaches, honey, amontillado sherry, warm oatmeal and vanilla pod. Ample, full-bodied and textural on the palate, its considerable concentration and richness is underpinned by a bright and intensely mouthwatering line of acidity that lends this Pouilly-Fuissé amazing verve. The finish is stunningly long and sapid. Despite its somewhat oxidative flavors, the wine remains full of life, fruit and energy, and I expect it to be long-lived. There isn't really anything else like this being produced in the Maconnais today.

The fresh pear and apple-scented 2000 Pouilly-Fuisse Clos de M. Noly Reserve Vieilles Vignes is an opulent, medium-bodied wine. It possesses outstanding depth to its super-ripe, white fruit and mineral-flavored character. Vinous, studded with minerals, and bright, this is a vivacious, lush, and highly concentrated wine with an exceptionally long and pure finish. Given Valette's contrarian belief in long elevages, it should be bottled some time in 2003 or 2004. Projected maturity: 2004-2012. Importer: Kysela Pere et Fils, Fran Kysela, Winchester, VA; tel. (540) 722-9228

The fresh pear and apple-scented 2000 Pouilly-Fuisse Clos de M. Noly Reserve Vieilles Vignes is an opulent, medium-bodied wine. It possesses outstanding depth to its super-ripe, white fruit and mineral-flavored character. Vinous, studded with minerals, and bright, this is a vivacious, lush, and highly concentrated wine with an exceptionally long and pure finish. Given Valette's contrarian belief in long elevages, it should be bottled some time in 2003 or 2004. Projected maturity: 2004-2012.Importer: Kysela Pere et Fils, Fran Kysela, Winchester, VA; tel. (540) 722-9228

Seemingly wishing to push the envelope, the Valettes aged their 1999 Pouilly-Fuisse Clos de Monsieur Noly Reserve Vieilles Vignes for 5 years (60 months!) in barrel before bottling it. Boasting a nose reminiscent of a complex Vin Jaune or Chateau Chalon from the Jura, yet without those wines’ distinctive oxidized traits, it reveals aromas of roasted almonds, lemongrass liqueur, a myriad of exotic spices, and hints of red berries. Immensely rich, full-bodied, broad-shouldered, and expansive, this stunning effort bursts forth with fresh flavors of honeyed lemongrass broth, creamed anise, syrupy minerals, and candied cashews. Those who buy this wine expecting something resembling other Pouilly-Fuisses they may have tried will be shocked to find something wholly different. It must be tasted to be believed and is in a class all its own, comparable to nothing I’ve encountered. Though nobody has any experience on the ageworthiness of this wine, I suggest drinking it over the next decade. Visiting the Valette family, whose home/estate is perched on Chaintre’s hillside affording views of the Saone valley (all the way to the Alps), is always a fascinating adventure. Ever since the family patriarch, Gerard Valette, left the local coop, he and his family have been fiercely independent, bucking both viticultural and winemaking traditions. For example, when all their neighbors had finished harvesting the 2003s, the Valettes were waiting for the fruit to be ripe, and when all their neighbors had bottled and shipped their 2004s, the Valettes’ were still undergoing elevage. Sadly, this outstanding, iconoclastic estate, whose offerings grace the finest restaurant wine lists in France, is no longer imported into the United States. No American importer.