The 2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes is a serious, concentrated wine from a parcel farmed by Germain and his team. Unwinding in the glass with scents of citrus oil, crisp stone fruit, freshly baked bread and light reduction, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and structured, with a tightly wound, racy profile and a saline finish. This is one of the longer-haul prospects in the range this year.

The 2019 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes is terrific, bursting from the glass with aromas of pear, orange oil, white flowers, crisp green apple, hazelnuts and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's ample and layered, with a taut, elegantly muscular profile and a long, penetrating finish. It's farmed by Germain's team, and that shows.

The 2018 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes has turned out brilliantly, offering up inviting aomras of orange oil, pear, warm bread, white flowers and candied ginger. Medium to full-bodied, layered and textural, with fine depth and concentration, bright acids and a precise, saline finish, it's well worth seeking out.

The 2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes displays scents of white currants, fresh peach, pear, hazelnuts and blanched almonds, followed by a full-bodied, satiny and concentrated palate that's muscular and powerful, though it's also more texturally refined than it was when I tasted it from barrel. Germain notes that this parcel has been converted to Guyot Poulsard pruning and is being farmed organically, so he expects it to improve further.

Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting, Girardin's 2014 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes was one of the few in this flight that showed a little too much new oak on the nose, and this dampened down the terroir expression. The palate is balanced with lime and green apple notes, the acidity well judged and with good weight on the slightly honeyed, tropical-tinged finish. It just lacks the complexity and the energy expressed by its peers.