We're deep into another sensational French stage race and it's time for another /WORLD TOUR WINE/ !!

Today's stage appears to be the ONLY stage of the year that goes through Burgundy. This is frankly a great injustice and likely a personal slight against the /WTW/ offices. I considered a bottle of Fleurie (which was also on today's stage) but decided to honor The Greatest Wine Region on Earth (tm) with a bottle of white Burgundy from Macon. While the Macconais does not have the hype of the more famous wines from the Cote d'Or to the north, there is plenty of sensational white Burgundy made here for often a much more reasonable price than the big boys from the Cote de Beaune.

Guffens-Heynen "1er Jus de Chavigne' Macon-Pierreclos ($160)

Jean-Marie Guffens, also known as "The Mad Belgian", has been termed  l'enfant terrible du les Maconnais by Jancis Robinson. Since 1980, he has been on a mission to prove that the Maconnais can make wines that stand up to their big brothers in the north. Iconoclastic, brusque, and impish, Jean-Marie favors highly concentrated wines utilizing late harvests, but then favoring the very first juice that is pressed off the grapes ("1er Jus") which tends to be more acidic and lively. This leads to a balanced wine that has both body/depth as well as acidity.

This pours a soft pale gold, like late afternoon sun. The nose is pure Macon - flinty minerality, wax, soft stone fruit, but there is an intriguing spice and depth, almost like an aged tequila. The palate is insane -- at first, it feels soft, restrained. Pure fruit, honey, wax, pastry. Then a building chorus of gunsmoke minerality and palate-tingling acidity. It lingers. It vibrates in the mouth.

Wowza. Another banger.