Of all the world’s great dry white wines, none is more sought after than Montrachet. Issuing from just 20 acres of poor, limestoney stone soil on Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune, Montrachet at its best is the most gloriously complex expression of the chardonnay grape. It’s also one of those wines that, as a journalist in the midst of a long stint of paying off college tuition for the children, I dream about rather than drink. But one Monday evening earlier this month, the dreaming stopped and the sipping started.

The occasion was a dinner at Jean-Georges hosted by the slender, silver-haired Robert Drouhin and his daughter Veronique, third and fourth generations of a distinguished family of Burgundian wine growers and merchants. Maison Joseph Drouhin, from which Mr. Drouhin retired as chairman a few years ago,makes a broad range of wines from up and down the Cote d’Or, ranging from modest to noble. It also produces wines in Oregon at Domaine Drouhin in the Willamette Valley, where Ms. Drouhin is the winemaker. Atop the pyramid of all Drouhin wines is Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche. Back in 1947, the Marquis de Laguiche, whose 5 acres of Montrachet makes him the largest single owner in the appellation, asked Robert’s father, Maurice Drouhin, to be his wine-making partner. The agreement, sealed with a handshake, has never been put in writing. The Drouhins make and market the great wine to this day.

With Jean-Georges’s first course of sea scallops and caramelized cauliflower, a trio of Montrachets Marquis de Laguiche were served, from the 2002, 2000, and 1999 vintages.The aroma of the 2002, subtle yet expansive, instantly put ample distance between itself and that of the common run of chardonnays. Though still an infant, this 2002 was creamy and giving. Its taste was ruled by minerality rather than overt fruitiness, and an early hint of almonds reasserted itself on the long aftertaste. In a decade, maybe even two, this serenely beautiful wine ought to be cruising toward perfection. I base that prediction on the last example and oldest wine served at the dinner, Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche 1990. Paired with young garlic soup with thyme and sauteed frog legs, it had the most amplitude of any of the five Montrachets, no small feat. It sent out expanding circles of textured flavor that was simultaneously stony and soft. At age 15, this wine is in its prime.

The final wine of the evening, perfect with broiled squab,onion compote,and corn pancake with foie gras, was Drouhin’s Griotte-Chambertin 1993, a satellite of the far better-known Chambertin itself. Both vineyards are rated grand cru, the top Burgundian classification. “Why did I pick Griotte?” Mr. Drouhin said as the brilliantly red wine was poured. “First, because you have less opportunity to drink this wine of which we make little. Second, because it represents what I like and what I aim at: complexity, elegance, subtlety. Frankly, I liked Griotte better than Chambertin itself, because, being a little lighter, it’s a good indicator of Drouhin’s style.” And so it was: the proverbial fist of iron wearing a velvet glove.

The next morning, at the International Wine Center on Seventh Avenue, Robert and Veronique Drouhin led a tasting of five vintages of white and six vintages of red Clos des Mouches.Though the Drouhins own only about half of this 64-acre appellation on the southern edge of the ancient city of Beaune, it is very much their “home” vineyard.”When I walk with my dog on Sunday morning,” Mr. Drouhin said, “I say to him, ‘Lets go up to Clos des Mouches.’ There, I often think of my father, Maurice.”

The Beaune appellation, at the heart of the Cote d’Or, rates no wines among the 40-odd grand crus designated as the best of Burgundy. Beaune Clos des Mouches is one level down: premier cru.That doesn’t stop the Drouhins from lavishing every care on these wines and pricing them accordingly. “Clos des Mouches fetches high prices,” Mr. Drouhin said. “We could just benefit from that – or, as we choose, reinvest in the vineyard.” Unwilling to coast on the name of Clos des Mouches in 2004, a year when the vineyard was hit by two destructive hailstorms, the Drouhins decided not to bottle any red wine under the distinctive label abuzz with images of “mouches” – the French word for flies, but which once meant tiny honeybees.

Among the white vintages of Clos des Mouches tasted, my favorites were the youngest and oldest – the rich and floral 2002 and the honeyed and intense 1992. Of the Clos des Mouches reds, the 2002 showed off this perfectly calibrated burgundian vintage with beguiling aromas and full, ripe flavors. Though both Mr. Drouhin and the Clos des Mouches vineyard itself seem to favor pure, even “polite,” character in the wine, the 1990 vintage had turned “animal,” to use Ms. Drouhin’s apt descriptor. A little “down and dirty” ain’t bad in red burgundy.

What I found striking about spending an evening and morning with Drouhin wines was how each presentation confirmed the value of the complex burgundian appellation system. It can seem so arbitrary in designating certain wines at the top rank and others below, yet it was clear that the elite dinner wines – Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche and Griotte-Chambertin – had more distinct personalities, as well as greater intensity and depth in the glass and in memory,than the admirably crafted yet somehow generic Clos des Mouches. The difference has to be not in the wine-making, addressed with equal care by the Drouhins, but in what is given by the soil, sun, and wind.

Recommended Wines from Maison Joseph Drouhin

MONTRACHET MARQUIS DE LAGUICHE 2002
$350 at K &D Wines & Spirits

GRIOTTE-CHAMBERTIN 1999
$135 at Zachys

BEAUNE CLOS DES MOUCHES (RED) 2002
$61.50 at Zachys

BEAUNE CLOS DES MOUCHES (WHITE) 1999
$61.50 at Zachys