Best Burgundy premier cru wines from 2017

This superb 2.15ha monopole, located on white clay soils just behind the winery and high on the slopes above Volnay, has made one of the great wines of the vintage in 2017. It's powerful, structured and complex, with layers of red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate fruit, sinewy tannins and pools of concentration. A stylishly oaked wine that's long, mineral and satisfying.

Back to normal yields in 2017, after a 50%, frost-related drop in 2016. This is a hauntingly aromatic expression of Les Amoureuses, sourced from a 0.39ha parcel. Pale and enticing, it has lovely notes of musk, summer pudding and red cherry tartness, complemented by 50% whole-bunch spice and one-third new wood.

One of the best Chambolle premiers crus of the vintage, this is another brilliant 2017 from François Millet. It's intensely coloured, with remarkable purity, focus, precision and palate length. This has 20% new wood, with red cherry and wild strawberry flavours and a finish that glides across the tongue.

The Fourriers are one of only five owners of this superb premier cru, with a 0.89ha parcel that was planted in 1910. This is a wonderfully dense, layered expression of the terroir with flavours of liquorice, plum, black cherry and strawberry, granular tannins and laser-like focus and precision.

Living up to Taillepieds' reputation as one of Volnay's very best premiers crus, this old-vine cuvée from a steep 1.05ha parcel on white clay and limestone soils is a revelation. Amazingly fresh and vibrant, it's a Pinot lover's Pinot Noir, with the texture, brightness and sense of wonder that make Burgundy so special.

There will be less Caillerets in 2018, not because of frost or hail for once, but because half of the vineyard has been pulled out to be replanted. With its characteristic rose petal scents and chiselled minerality, this is sappy, bright and well balanced, with remarkable persistence on the palate.

The 300-metre rows in the domaine's 4ha of Champans run from the top to the bottom of the slope, taking in both brown and red soils. The result is a very complete, self-assured expression of the premier cru, showing the focus and delicacy of a classic Volnay. Silly, sweet and shimmering on the palate, it has very good depth and the concentration to age

Hand destemmed for the second vintage in a row, this comes from a 0.6ha parcel and marries a wonderful energy with Frédéric Lafarge's characteristic lightness of touch. Taut, precise and mineral edged, this has lacy tannins, chalky precision and engaging summer berry sweetness.

The Lafarge wines are often some of the palest and most delicate in Burgundy, but don't confuse that with a lack of concentration or intensity. Chalky and pithy yet sweetly, alluringly fruity, this is a beautifully transparent, nuanced expression of a great terroir.

Cherbaudes is located just below Mazis-Bas, where Jean-Marie Fourrier's 0.67ha parcel was planted in 1940. This has the richness and density of a grand cru, so maybe its neighbour has influenced the quality of the wine by osmosis. It's spicy, sweet and brambly with a fine, nuanced finish.

Aromas of summer pudding and Turkish Delight waft from the glass on this delicious premier cru bottling. Facing east, this 0.34ha parcel was planted in 1966 and has yielded an elegant, ethereal, scented Pinot with impressive balance and focus.

Combe Aux Moines is something of a signature wine from Fourrier alongside his Clos-St-Jacques. Reflecting its elevated position, this is a bright, aromatic, wonderfully refreshing style with some ferrous notes and a smooth, balanced finish.

Domaine Rousseau owns one-third of the clos, with most of it in the sunniest and warmest spot against the wall. This combines impressive depth and structure with the freshness that you always get in the best wines from this renowned premier cru. Aged in 70% new wood, this has the concentration and texture to age impressively in bottle.

Fonteny faces east like its neighbour Les Ruchottes, on a site with very little topsoil. There's only one barrel of this superb wine, fermented with two-thirds whole bunches and sourced from a 70-year-old parcel, but what a red it is. It combines weight, freshness, blueberry and black cherry fruit, silky tannins and palate-cleansing freshness.

There's just one 350-litre barrel of this wine for the world, sourced from a premier cru that sits just below Mazis-Bas on fine sand and limestone soils. Old-vine concentration, deep colour and textured, fine-grained tannins are framed by skilfully integrated wood and aromatic spices. Superb winemaking.

The Mortets' five parcels here cover 1.2ha in all, and run from the top of the Combe de Lavaux to the bottom, close to the Clos St-Jacques. Fermented without whole bunches, this is another superb red from Arnaud Mortet, now established as one of the best red winemakers in Burgundy. It's juicy, textured and crunchy, with the acidity that's typical of the terroir and deftly handled 80% new wood.

Two premiers crus - Faconnières and Chenevery - combine to produce this serious, structured cuvée from this increasingly impressive domaine. Rich and spicy, it has 25% stems and 30% new wood, showing a combination of depth and precision with fine, nuanced tannins.

Badly hit by frost in 2016 but back to normal yields in 2017, this 75-year-old 0.3ha parcel is so special that it's the source of the domaine's massal selections. Bright, lively and refreshing, this wine really shows the influence of the nearby combe. It's floral and sweet, with tobacco and Asian spices, a lovely texture and beautifully integrated wood, 55% new.

This cuvée, sourced from a 0.75ha parcel of 46-year-old vines completed its malolactic fermentation late, so was a little more backward than the other releases when I tasted it. It may need more time in barrel and bottle, but this is a superb expression of the premier cru, located at the fresher, more scented end of the spectrum. It has fruit intensity from the small berries (millerands) and a chiselled finish.

There aren't many producers in this superb premier cru, but Maxime Cheurlin has certainly made the most of his 0.3ha parcel in 2017. It's focussed, elegant and racy, with fine-boned tannins, gorgeous fruit and the freshness of a site that's high on the slope. Crunchy and refreshing on the finish.

Charles van Canneyt's 0.5ha block in Les Suchots was planted in 1910, which makes it the oldest at the domaine. In a vintage that stumped some producers, he has made a beautifully delineated wine that's textured and nuanced, effortlessly integrating its 40% new wood and showing a wonderful brightness and purity of fruit.

The Hudelot-Noëllat holding of only 0.14ha is located in the upper part of this premier cru, all of it old vines planted by Charles Noëllat. This is finer than the wines of some of his neighbours, somewhere between the minerality of Les Beaumonts with the richness of Les Suchots, embellished by stylish oak and sinewy tannins.

Considerably denser and more concentrated than the regular de Montille Malconsorts in 2017, this comes from a 0.5ha parcel of older vines. It's a very spicy, serious red with evident whole-cluster fermentation, a hint of green malt, scented oak and a core of acidity. One to tuck away for a while.

Les Petits Monts is owned by Véronique Drouhin rather than her family, which may be why she's such a huge fan of the premier cru. This is particularly impressive in 2017, using 35% new wood and 40% whole bunches to good effect. It's textured, fresh and elegant, showing lovely red cherry and angostura bitters notes, with chiselled minerality and very subtle wood.

Made with old-vine fruit from one of Vosne's most famous premiers crus - partly because of its association with the legendary Henri Jayer - this wine was comparatively late-picked because of the coolness of its north-east facing, 0-3ha site. The 100% new oak is effortlessly integrated, supported by the red fruit sweetness that's typical of the vintage, plus zesty, palate-cleansing minerality.

Located next to Les Gaudichots and above Les Malconsorts, this little-known premier cru is high on the slope of Vosne-Romanée next to Nuits-St-Georges. The resulting wine is refined, delicate and floral, with crunchy redcurrant and pomegranate notes and two-thirds whole bunches contributing some sap and clove spice.

With their 1.2ha of Les Amoureuses, the Groffiers are the biggest owners of this celebrated premier cru, ahead of Joseph Drouhin. Showing subtle reduction in barrel, this is lighter, paler and more ethereal than the 2016, but not far behind it in terms of quality. With 50% whole bunches and 33% new wood, it's focussed, fine and very subtle, with aromatic spices and wild strawberry sweetness.

Ghislaine Barthod's two parcels of Charmes are both in the more southerly part of the premier cru and can make one of the more reticent wines in her line up. That's far from the case here though, as this is all about rose petal and summer berry aromas with bright, vivacious acidity, subtle 30% new oak integration and a sweet, lingering finish.

Not quite love at first sip, but not far off. This is a characteristically svelte and refined expression of Les Amoureuses from Fred Mugnier. It has rose petal and peony aromas, fine-boned tannins and a sweet, caressing finish that seems to whisper in your ear.