The 1959 vintage in Burgundy stands out as a great, generous and sun-kissed year, one of the most illustrious of the decade, born of a hot and sunny summer that brought perfectly ripe and rich grapes. The reds (Pinot Noir) are its defining expressions: powerful, fleshy and opulent, with radiant fruit and generous flesh, endowed with a superb ageing potential, with brilliant successes in the Côte de Nuits (Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis). The whites (Chardonnay) are ample and sun-drenched, from Meursault to Puligny-Montrachet and Chablis, though some lack freshness. The ageing potential was considerable. More than sixty years on, the greatest perfectly cellared reds can still impress, but the individual bottle becomes decisive. Between the weak 1960 and the modest 1958, the 1959 ranks among the very greatest solar years of the decade, alongside 1955.