92-94 Point Wines

wines

The 2023 Montmains is one of my favorite premier crus in the Piuze cellars this year. The wine’s bouquet is pure, precise and complex, offering up notes of lemon, pear, a touch of tangerine, beeswax, spring flowers, lemon peel and a beautiful foundation of chalky minerality. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and deep at the core, with great soil signature and grip, a fine spine of acidity, lovely balance and a long, focused and complex finish. Most impressive. 2028-2055+.John Gilman | 93 JGPatrick Piuze’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains has turned out well, opening from the glass with notes of acacia, pear, peach and youthful reduction. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and tensile, built around a chalky core, it’s laden with bright acidity and concludes with a long, saline finish. It’s produced from a parcel just next to Raveneau’s.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RP

The 2023 vintage of “Vaillons” Les Minots from Patrick Piuze is excellent. The wine’s aromatic constellation offers up a superb blend of fresh lemon, pear, tart orange, chalky soil tones, anise, spring flowers and a topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is deep, zesty, complex and full-bodied, with a succulent core of fruit, superb mineral undertow, bouncy acids and lovely balance on the long and vibrant finish. This will drink beautifully upon release and has the balance to age gracefully for several decades. 2025-2055.John Gilman | 92+ JGDerived from one of the warmest places in the valley, Patrick Piuze’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Les Minots is flamboyant and demonstrative, soaring from the glass with a bouquet of marzipan, peach and dried white flowers mingling with passion fruit. Enveloping and underpinned by racy acids, it’s full-bodied, rich and gourmand and, unsurprisingly, in the context of the warmer site, is among the first that is harvested. While it offers immediate appeal, it has proven to be an age-worthy bottling.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

This exotic wine boasts aromas of passion fruit, pomelo and ripe yellow plums, touched with oyster shell and a hint of smoky reduction. There is rewarding richness here, but there is also plenty of fresh acidity and energy on the palate. The grapes are from the white marl soils of the well-protected, south-facing slopes in the village of Fleys, not far from the Mont de Milieu; it is one of the warmest premier cru sites on the right bank of the Serein. Open this wine in five years and drink it over the next 20.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECExotic floral notes, passion fruit, nashi pear and gooseberry introduce the bottled 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Les Fourneaux, a medium- to full-bodied wine that is elegantly fleshy yet taut and vibrant, concluding with a persistent, grapefruit-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThe 2023 Chablis Les Fourneaux 1er Cru has an airy, crushed stone- and flint-tinged bouquet that seems to have veered toward a more classical and sapid style since bottling. The palate is bright, well balanced and taut, with lime on the entry and a dash of white pepper toward the finish. Give this 18 to 24 months in bottle to show what it is capable of.Vinous Media | 92 VMA little lemon touch to the nose. Retains a cool clarity, then riper lemon scented fruit on the palate and a nicely balanced finish. Attractive stony rather than saline notes to finish. Drink from 2027-2032. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

The recently bottled 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre is another success for Samuel Billaud, unfurling aromas of nashi pear, iodine, gooseberry and grapefruit. Full-bodied, ample and satiny, it offers a layered mid-palate framed by tangy acids and concludes with a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RPThe 2023 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru has a vivacious bouquet that’s more complex than the Montmains. It’s delineated and focused with wonderful mineralité, scents of lime flower, citrus peel and orange blossom. The palate is very well balanced with a quicksilver line of acidity, fine depth and a harmonious, saline finish. The 2023 is beautiful.Vinous Media | 93 VMThis lively, fresh expression of Montée de Tonnerre features aromas of gooseberry and cream with a suggestion of oyster shell; a salty, mineral tang arrives at the end on the palate. The texture is silky and very fine. The grapes are from several parcels totaling 2.15ha in the lieux-dits of Pied d’Aloup and Côte de Bréchain. In 2023, they were gently pressed and fermented exclusively in tank to preserve the freshness of the fruit.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECJust bottled. A clear lightly lemony nose. A sense of considerable weight behind. This has a grander structure than the Mont de Milieu while retaining an even more mineral central backbone. Strikingly long finish. But keep this for years! Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 93 JMAn elegant, pure and airy and more floral-suffused nose possesses more obvious Chablis character with its wet stone, shellfish, brine and iodine-suffused aromas. There is more refinement, if less volume and power, to the beautifully textured middle weight flavors that conclude in a sneaky long, balanced and altogether classy finale. Lovely stuff.Burghound | 92 BH

The 2023 Chablis Les Séchets 1er Cru has a detailed and mineral-driven bouquet that evokes images of the dark and stormy sea. This has wonderful salinity—it really benefits from no wood contact. The palate is old-school Chablis, with green apple and pear scents. It’s a little strict, yet there is real depth and grip here. The 2023 is very complex and long on the finish, but it’s 100% Chablis in style. Outstanding.Vinous Media | 94 VMJust bottled, after 18 months in tank. Not too dry and stony, though savoury in the best sense. Samuel’s Séchet is one of the great expressions of Left Bank Chablis, with its tightly wound finish and controlled salinity. Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted Jun 2025. | 94 JMRestrained aromas of citrus confit, iodine, spice and apple give way to strikingly textured and slightly denser medium-bodied flavors that flash evident power that builds on the bitter lemon-inflected finish that is markedly dry, sleek and balanced. The Billaud Séchet is virtually always excellent and the 2023 vintage should be no exception. (Drink starting 2031)Burghound | 93 BH

Top notes of lanolin and vanilla are backed by honeysuckle, peach and lemon tart flavors in this youthful white. With air, this gains freshness and elegance, leaving a salty, mineral element to mingle with the oak spice on the finish. Best from 2027 through 2038. 60 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThere is a lovely, opulent balance between the richness of this wine and the elegance of its acid structure. The initial attack is redolent of grapefruit and quince with hints of hawthorn flowers and chalk. The texture is tightly wound and powerful, yet the wine is silky and very fine, even at this stage. The grapes are from the heart of the Vaillon lieu-dit and were planted in 1933 by Fabien Moreau’s grandfather Guy. One third was fermented in cask, two-thirds in tank; aged for a total of 18 months before bottling.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECThe 2023 Chablis Vaillon 1er Cru Cuvée Guy Moreau, which comes from 90-year-old vines, did not finish its fermentation until the following June. It is a little broader on the nose compared to the regular cuvée and this displays a touch more depth. The palate is well balanced and fresh with a bead of acidity and hints of toffee apple and white peach toward the finish. This is very fine.Vinous Media | 91 VMHere too a whiff of the exotic can be found on the slightly riper and lightly oaky aromas of pear, apple and citrus confit plus just enough Chablis typicity to be interesting. As is usually the case, the old vines are in evidence on the middle weight plus flavors thanks to the abundance of sappy dry extract that coats the palate on the seductively textured finish. This does however need better depth so at least some patience is recommended.Burghound | 91 BHLively lemon and lime. The oak ageing means that the bouquet is more hidden in youth. There is a suggestion of greater depth of fruit, along with a little biscuity touch. Some decent acidity, but soft white fruit and flesh dominates the palate. Fair length, not so much tension. Hovering on 13% alcohol. Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 90 JM

The Fèvre bottling of premier cru Beauroy is teeming with wonderful aromas of lime peel and green apple, touched with a bit of smoky reduction and a lovely salty edge on the finish. The texture is lively and fresh, but there is also density here. The grapes come from three parcels located in part of the Beauroy climat called Troésmes. There are two parcels of old vines (up to 50 years of age) and one of young vines. The grapes are fermented and aged partly in tank and partly in cask (40–50%).Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThis sunny white is broad and fleshy, evoking peach, yellow plum, orange peel and neroli aromas and flavors. An undercurrent of lively acidity and mineral keeps this defined and propels the long aftertaste. Drink now through 2033. 40 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSA step up in tension, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy, sourced from a high-maturity site planted with 60-year-old vines, delivers notes of white flowers, pear, peach and honeysuckle. Medium- to full-bodied, ample and textural, the palate is lively and charming. A notably sunny terroir, Beauroy—like Vaillons and Vaudésir—is harvested on the early side to preserve balance and freshness.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPThe 2023 Chablis “Beauroy” from Domaine Fèvre is a very pretty example of the vintage. The wine’s nose is complex and nicely succulent in personality, offering up notes of pear, tart orange, wet stone minerality, lime peel and a topnote of fruit blossoms. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, zesty and nicely reserved in profile today, with a good core of the vintage’s beautiful fruit, good acids and grip and a long, soil-driven and beautifully balanced finish. This will be one of the earlier-drinking premier crus in the stables this year and will make an excellent addition to a well-stocked wine list. (Drink between 2026-2050)John Gilman | 91+ JGBlended yesterday with its lees, so troubled. Will stay on lees through to the spring, but the upheaval dumbs down the nose and fattens the palate, so it is hard to taste with exactitude today. Even so, the central core is in place with attractive flavours to finish, and enough acidity. Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JMThe 2023 Chablis Beauroy 1er Cru had just been pumped so it was extremely cloudy in the glass as they keep the lees. The bouquet is well defined with light marine/oyster shell scents. The palate is balanced with pleasing fatness on the entry, not a steely or austere Beauroy. A sunny Chablis that has a "smile" on the finish.Vinous Media | 88-90 VMA slightly riper yet still attractively fresh nose combines notes of white peach and passion fruit with those of iodine and shellfish. There is a lovely texture to the rich and sappy medium-bodied flavors that also conclude in a lingering if mildly warm finale. Once again, this should drink well after only a few years of keeping.Burghound | 88-90 BH

Sourced from a north-facing site beneath forest cover with clay-rich soils, a parcel selection in Vaillons, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys is among the most quintessentially Chablisien wines in the portfolio and is harvested around a week later than the fruit that enters the Vaillons bottling. It offers aromas of oyster juice, white flowers, lemon oil and Granny Smith apple, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, incisive and pure palate that is elegant yet racy and fresh, concluding with a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPI love Domaine Fèvre’s Les Lys bottling, year in and year out, and the 2023 is another absolutely superb premier cru in the making. The exposition of this vineyard is plain north, which may account why it acquits itself so well so often in this age of global warming. The 2023 Les Lys is a beautiful wine on both the nose and palate, offering up a complex blend of lime, pear, stony minerality, a touch of anise, dried flowers and an exotic touch of mossiness in the upper register that recall a bit the Abtsberg vineyard from Maximin Grünhaus. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, precise and complex, with a great core of pure fruit, a lovely girdle of acidity, fine minerality and a long, vibrant and impeccably balanced finish. (Drink between 2029-2060)John Gilman | 93+ JGThe 2023 Chablis Les Lys 1er Cru comes from a single hectare of vines. Lime, red apple and touches of orange pith and peach skin develop in the glass. The palate is well balanced with a taut line of acidity, silky smooth, very composed with a lot of finesse on the finish. This is one of the domaine’s hidden gems and should not be under-estimated.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis ripe white’s peach, apricot and melon flavors are accented by earth, citrus peel and vanilla notes. Airy in texture and mouthwatering on the finish. Drink now through 2033. 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WSThis is also quite fresh though a bit cooler with its array of pretty floral, citrus confit, iodine and oyster shell nuances. There is unusually good richness and volume for Les Lys to the sappy and succulent flavors that terminate in a sappy, powerful and lightly bitter lemon-inflected finale. Good if not special quality here.Burghound | 90 BHClear pale lemon yellow. The nose is taking coaxing but has the precision. Very good tension, still with delicacy despite the concentration, nothing dilute here, good tension with a little bitterness at the back. Very promising. Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JM

Crushed stone and green apple mingle on the nose that rests against a wall of baby’s breath and muddled white blossom. The steely palate accentuates purity of fruit while elevating freshness on the finish that is lifted by a nervy layer of acidity. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2023 Chablis “Vaillons” from Domaine William Fèvre is another absolutely classic expression of this fine premier cru vineyard. The bouquet is bright and complex, wafting from the glass in a lovely mix of lemon, pink grapefruit, anise, citrus peel, chalky minerality, white flowers and a gentle topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied and focused, with a great core of fruit, lovely bounce and grip, seamless balance and a long, mineral-driven and complex finish. First class Vaillons! (Drink between 2028-2055)John Gilman | 93 JGSourced from a sunny, precocious site that is typically among the first to be harvested, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons delivers aromas of beeswax, orange oil, pear and honeysuckle. Full-bodied, enveloping and charming, it is underpinned by ripe yet vibrant acidity and concludes with a saline finish, reflecting the personality of the warm vintage. The wine is derived from 3.5 hectares, the majority of which lies within Vaillons proper.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RPLinear in profile, yet with a fleshy texture enveloping flavors of lemon cake, yellow plum and apple. There’s an underlying flintiness that, coupled with the acidity, brings clarity to the citrus-tinged aftertaste. Excellent length. Drink now through 2033. 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe 2023 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has much more composure than the Montmains, more harmonious and poised. Light sea spray scents mixed with Crustacea come through with aeration. The palate is well balanced with fine delineation, quite linear and malic with a concentrated finish. I prefer this to the Montmains this year.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMAn exuberantly fresh nose features notes of essence of apple, sea breeze, pink grapefruit and oyster shell. The delicious, fleshy and solidly concentrated medium weight flavors deliver good if not truly special length on the lightly stony, balanced and bitter lemon-inflected finale. This is sufficiently rich to allow for early accessibility but it also has the stuffing to repay 6 to 10 years of cellaring.Burghound | 89-91 BHMid lemon yellow. A little headier in bouquet than the Montmains, balanced by a reductive note. Richer than usual for Vaillons but still with some balance. A little youthful bitterness. Not quite in place today. Drink from 2026-2033. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JM

Patrick Piuze’s 2024 Butteaux is a bit more structured and reserved out of the blocks than the lovely Montmains and will demand a couple years more in the cellar before it blossoms, but it may well be every bit as fine as the Montmains once it is ready to drink. The wine’s aromatic constellation is composed of scents of tart orange, lemon, apple, a fine base of limestone soil, paraffin, citrus blossoms and a deft touch of oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and youthful, with a fine core of pure fruit, excellent mineral drive and grip, lovely acids and a long, well balanced and very promising finish. 2032-2065.John Gilman | 93+ JG

The 2024 Chablis “les Séchets” from Patrick Piuze is also an outstanding wine in the making. The bouquet is very expressive already and is flat out stunning, soaring from the glass in a mix of lemon, pear, beeswax, a complex foundation of chalky minerality, white lilies, apple blossoms, citrus peel and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full, pure and succulent at the core, with fine soil signature, a lovely spine of acidity, great focus and grip and a long, complex and beautifully balanced finish. Fine, fine juice. 2030-2065.John Gilman | 93+ JG

Opening in the glass with aromas of spring flowers, Granny Smith apple, lemon oil and nashi pear, the 2024 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains is medium-bodied and taut, bright and chalky, with mouthwatering acidity and a long, precise finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

I’m sad that Vaulorent had to be folded in to this wine, but at only 25 hl/ha, it is understandable. The wine is notably concentrated with apricot pits, Fuji apples and shortbread. The gently sculpting acidity delivers very nice definition.Tim Atkin | 93 TAThe 2024 Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume is derived from vines rooted in deep, clay-rich soils and raised in 40% oak, with the remainder matured in stainless steel tanks. Offering aromas of pear, dried flowers and almond paste, it is medium- to full-bodied, satiny and underpinned by tangy acids, concluding with a long, vanillin-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPGenerous wood fights somewhat with the ripe aromas of citrus confit, white orchard fruit and just enough Chablis typicity to remind one where this is from. I very much like the texture of the plump, round and punchy medium-bodied flavors that possess plenty of sappy dry extract that also serves to buffer the moderately firm acid spine shaping the lingering finale.Burghound | 89-92 BH50% oak. Vaupulans with more clay so on the richer side. Pale yellow. A plumper yellow fruit nose. Fruit through the middle, oak at the end, which past history suggests will integrate. Drink from 2027-2031. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JMThe 2024 Chablis Fourchaume 1er Cru is more backward and austere on the nose than the Mont de Milieu. This is reticent at the moment. The palate is balanced with pineapple and grapefruit notes. This has a keen line of acidity, though it’s quite linear and less flattering compared to some of Benoît Droin’s other cuvées this year.Vinous Media | 88-90 VM