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To truly understand wine, you have to drink it – ideally in the company of fellow explorers just as curious as you are. This time, without any prior agreement, the evening turned into a Chambolle-Musigny focus around the wines of Nicolas Groffier, an undeniably gifted winemaker who has shaped a style entirely his own.

Le Pin may be one of Bordeaux’s youngest blue‑chip wines, but its story – from improvised barrel fermentations to Robert Parker‑driven cult status – has already become modern legend. A vertical tasting only confirmed that this tiny Pomerol remains a meticulous, no‑compromise benchmark with no truly “bad” vintages, only badly stored bottles.

Puligny and Chassagne grands crus in one night: PYCM, Ramonet, Leflaive, Drouhin, Prieur and Dugat‑Py at the very summit of white Burgundy. It was yet another walk to the Roof of the World. It is hard to imagine a more complex wine than Chardonnay grown on just 32.88 hectares within the borders of two villages, Puligny and Chassagne. That is precisely the combined surface of Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet – a true hotspot for every Burgundy wine fan and, for us this evening, the place to once again enjoy some of the greatest white wines on Earth...

The genius and craftsmanship of Jean-Yves Bizot defy understanding: his wines evolve and change from vintage to vintage, yet they always retain their unmistakable, unique style. His feeling for wine is as complex an idea as time itself – or rather, its passage. And just when we manage to grasp even a fraction of the meaning of his wines, they slip away and move ahead, just like time. At least, these are my impressions from his wines and from meeting Jean-Yves during a visit to his domaine many years ago.