Domaine d’Auvenay’s Auxey-Duresses “Les Boutonniers” 2016 is a village-level white Burgundy that trades largely on two things: the singular reputation of Lalou Bize-Leroy’s tiny, biodynamically farmed domaine, and the raw material in this specific parcel. The wine is 100% Chardonnay from “Les Boutonniers,” a 0.25-hectare holding described as the estate’s oldest-vine site, averaging about 82 years of age. Production is correspondingly minute—around 700 bottles in a year—making this one of the more elusive wines in the Côte de Beaune. Auxey-Duresses itself sits just west of Meursault, and while it is less famous than its neighbors, this bottling aims well above the appellation’s usual expectations.

The one professional review available for the 2016 vintage is not just positive; it is outstanding. William Kelley, writing for *Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate*, awarded 95 points and called it “extraordinary,” highlighting a “stunning bouquet of smoky yellow orchard fruit, honeycomb, green pear and iodine.” That aromatic profile signals ripeness and complexity, but also a savory, mineral-leaning edge that keeps the wine grounded.

On the palate, Kelley emphasizes scale and structure: “full-bodied, immensely layered and concentrated,” with an “elegantly satiny attack,” “tangy balancing acids,” and “an abundance of dry extract,” finishing long. He goes further, noting the 2016’s “incredible intensity,” “ineffable completeness,” and “energy,” and adds that while Les Boutonniers is “always one of my favorite bottlings from Domaine d’Auvenay,” the 2016 “is especially good.”

For buyers who can find it, this reads as a serious, age-worthy Chardonnay built on old vines, tiny yields, and the domaine’s exacting approach—delivering Auxey-Duresses with uncommon depth and authority.