Henri Perrusset, Macon-Villages, 2011, Burgundy, France

This Chardonnay is fairly translucent in the glass with just a touch of darker gold.  The nose is dominated by lime, graham cracker crust, and pine sol.  This is a medium-bodied and crisp wine with a slight oily texture. It's a clean crisp classic with a hint of rock candy sweetness on the mid-palate.  Kermit Lynch once again delivers a nice understated balanced effort but somehow right now it's leaving me with something to be desired.  I mean its pairing quite nicely with a solo night of season 2 of Friday Night Lights and Pepperidge Farm Salted Pretzel Milano Slices cookies.  Still I'd rather be with a good friend and a plateful of Willapa Bay oysters.

Louis Latour, Macon-Villages Chameroy, 2008, Burgundy

MORE FRENCH WHITES, PLEASE!   This Villages level Burgundy from Macon is iridescent golden yellow in the glass.  On her first smell, Kelly yelped, "Gorgonzola Apple Salad!"  I got sliced golden apple and poop (in a good way).  The mixture of fruit and funk in this wine is pretty undeniable.  I also picked up golden raisins and laughing gas.  This is a full bodied effort with a powerful flavor of perfectly ripe juicy gold apple with lovely soft citrus overtones and fig.  The wine-makers note this Macon-Villages has a "suave, billowing aftertaste."  I concur.  For all its weight, this wine gets has a surprisingly smooth de-crescendoing lightness on its long finish.  It completely blows my mind that that a chardonnay this complex and layered sees absolutely no oak.  It's something I have yet to taste in any domestic producers' wines, whose stainless steel chards I find too bracing and quick.  I'm happy that there are still bargains (picked this up for less than 20) to find there but I know that for most oenophiles, Burgundy can be a slippery slope.  Please don't let me blow my next paycheck on one of these!