92-94 Point Wines

wines

The one-hectare parcel that constitutes the 2021 Chablis Valmur Grand Cru yielded five barrels this year. This also has a heavy reduction and is quite yeasty at the moment. The palate is well balanced with a marine-influenced entry, flecks of white chocolate complementing the citrus fruit with a longer finish than the Blanchot. Fine sour lemon mixed with orange rind on the aftertaste. Excellent.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

The 2021 Corton-Charlemagne from Domaine Jean Chartron is another outstanding wine in the making. The complex nose wafts from the glass in a mix of apple, pear, a fine base of chalky soil tones, a touch of almond, spring flowers crème pâtissière and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and nascently complex, with a fine core of fruit, excellent focus and balance, bouncy acids and a long, balanced and soil-driven finish. This not showing quite the same mineral dimension as the top two Puligny premier crus right now, but it may well catch up in this regard with some extended bottle age. Fine juice. (Drink between 2027 - 2060)John Gilman | 94 JGThis delicious wine presents aromas of citrus peel and hawthorn flowers coloured with a chalky, saline mineral edge and notes of cream, butter, and spice. This year the wine is made exclusively from a domaine-owned parcel in Pernand from the lieu-dit En Charlemagne that was planted in 1961 and picked on 25 September just before the rain. It produced a single barrel, which is ageing in a two-year-old cask from the cooper Chassin.Decanter | 93 DECOnce again there is an attractive coolness to the essence of green apple, spice and mineral reduction scents. There is superb delineation to the bigger-bodied and more powerful flavors that are at once muscular yet refined, all wrapped in a moderately austere finale where a touch of wood slowly emerges. This tightly wound and very promising effort should age like a classic Corton-Charlemagne.Burghound | 92-94 BHOne barrel, an exchange. Paler colour and correctly chiselled. Very tight and with excellent concentration. The length is good too. Just a baby, but with promise. Stony lemons to finish. Drink from 2026-2031.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMThe 2021 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, reduced to one and a half barrels due to the absence of any exchange, sports quite a bit of reduction on the nose that makes it difficult to read at present. The palate is well balanced with fine acidity, quite taut and maybe just missing a little tension on the finish. Fine, though Chartron has made better in the past.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

Made from two plots, one each in Pernand and Ladoix, but just two barrels this year instead of eight. Pale lemon and lime. A more reductive nose with a little oaky note, one new barrel in the two. Will take some time for the fruit to push past that. Plenty of fruit volume though and the style is typical of the appellation. White fruit, lemons, a little banana note, and a stony finish. Indeed plenty of weight at the finish. Drink from 2026-2032.Jasper Morris | 93 JM

An exuberantly fresh nose of spicy purple fruit, exotic tea, violet and hints of cinnamon and sandalwood are trimmed in discreet but not invisible wood. There is both good richness and punch to the supple medium-bodied flavors that conclude in a lightly austere but impressively long and harmonious finale. This could use better depth but like the VRBM, the Rouget Ech has an excellent track record for aging well.Burghound | 92-94 BHThe 2021 Echézeaux Grand Cru, aged in 100% new oak, is tasted from two barrels as one is heavily reduced, while the other shows fine delineation: crushed strawberry, wild mint and loam. The palate is heavily reduced at first, quite dense and broad-shouldered, black cherries mixed with cassis, a little chocolaty towards the finish.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

Droin’s Vaudésir comes from just over 1ha with vines planted on both north- and south-facing slopes. A little subdued on the nose and palate, this is a subtle grand cru with plenty of definition, and will blossom with two to three years additional bottle age. No oak.Decanter | 92 DECThe 2021 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru has a taut and fresh bouquet, wonderful mineralité with a hint of smoke and flint coming through. The palate is well balanced with a saline note, fine depth, lemon and a little more lime. Builds nicely in the mouth, a lovely Vaudésir.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMHere too moderate wood sets off the overtly spicy and ripe aromas of white and yellow peach, iodine and hints of seashore. The sleek, delicious and intense flavors are just a bit more refined, indeed they are almost delicate, while still delivering excellent length on the citrus-tinged finish where a bit of wood slowly emerges.Burghound | 91-94 BH

The 2021 Chablis Bougros Grand Cru, 80% aged in oak, has a delightful bouquet with orchard fruit, lemon verbena and orange pith scents that burst from the glass. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, quite precise with a welcome touch of bitter lemon that keeps the finish on edge. Not a long-term Bougros perhaps, but finely crafted. Tasted blind at the BIVB tasting in Chablis.Vinous Media | 93 VM

The 2022 Chablis Bougros Grand Cru, matured around one-third in used barrel, sports a subtle reduction on the nose that works to its favor: white flowers commingle with Mirabelle and crushed stone. The palate is well-balanced and precise, harmonious with orange pith and nectarine, just a touch of praline. It builds nicely in the glass and then slams its foot on the accelerator right on the finish as if to say: That’s all for now. One for the patient amongst you.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMBougros, according to Didier Séguier, is the place for those who like lots of ripeness and not too much minerality. Quality has increased greatly here with reduced yields. Plenty of weight and ripeness but also with finesse and appeal.Decanter | 92 DECFresh pale green tint. Didier describes this as the entry level grand cru. The average age of the vines is at or above 60 years. There is admirable tension here, an electric start, more middleweight through the middle, then quite a powerful middle with decent dry extract, and good length. Keeps coming back. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted: June 2023.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JMOnce again there is plenty of mineral reduction character suffusing the aromas of ripe pear, soft wood and tidal pool. The rich, full-bodied and overtly powerful broad-shouldered flavors are robust but not rustic on the bitter lemon, dry and balanced finale. This also needs more depth but that is virtually always the case with young Bougros.Burghound | 91-93 BH

Starts ripe and fleshy in the mouth, then the minerality comes through. Fresh and direct, a very nicely balanced wine which, although approachable now, will age. The vines here lie on very steep slopes with full exposition to the sun. Early harvesting is the key to freshness.Decanter | 93 DECA small lot so better to assemble early, which has just been done. A fresh green light shines through the clouds nonetheless. Picked among the first, a little yellow fruit plums and fresh white peaches. Salty rather than saline, with a fine firm backbone. The finish is particularly impressive, with the fruit becoming ever fresher at the back of the palate. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted: June 2023.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMSlightly more evident wood can be found on the cool and elegant aromas of mineral reduction, spiced pear and pretty floral whiffs along with a plenitude of classic Chablis elements. The understated, pure and borderline delicate flavors are at once supple yet beautifully detailed as well as almost aggressively mineral-driven on the superbly long finish. This is pretty much textbook Vaudésir.Burghound | 92-94 BHThe 2022 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru has a less immediate nose than the Bougros, with hints of lanolin and estuarine scents, lemon verbena and fern. This builds with confidence in the glass. The palate is well-balanced with fine delineation and cohesion, a welcome sour lemon edge, and salinity with a primal grapefruit finish. Again, this will require time once in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2022 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru Hommage à Louis has quite a malic, green apple and Anjou pear-scented nose that unfurls beautifully in the glass. The palate is taut and linear, with moderate depth, clamming up slightly towards the finish compared with the Grenouilles or Valmur.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

Matured in a mix of 500-liter oak and 228-liter steel barrels, the 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is deep and layered, exhibiting aromas of pear, white flowers, blanched almonds and honeycomb. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, with attractive purity of fruit and bright balancing acids, it underlines this estate’s continued progress.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

Generous but not dominant wood fights a bit with the otherwise airy aromas of Granny Smith apples, just sliced citrus and a lovely array of Chablis elements that include iodine, oyster shell, and tidal pool wisps. The racy, intense and markedly stony broad-shouldered flavors possess evident power on the firm, compact and balanced finale that is dry but not especially austere. While perfectly normal in the context of what is typical for Les Clos, this is definitely going to need at least some forbearance, both to better integrate the wood treatment as well as develop better depth. Excellent.Burghound | 93-96 BH20% new wood and 80% inox for vinification, then all to barrel, but will not be bottled until February 2024. The bouquet shows all the majesty of Clos plus some wood as well. Early days. This absolutely fills the palate but the wood has the upper hand for the moment. It cannot entirely keep the fruit out of the picture though. This will get there but you need to wait. Drink from 2032-2040+. Tasted: June 2023.Jasper Morris | 93-95 JM

The very steep aspect of Côte Bouguerots is highlighted by a much greater emphasis on minerality than Fevre’s Bougros. This is a grand cru is every way - so much drive on the palate with plenty of extract, concentration, salinity and length. Certain to keep very well but this is also surprisingly approachable early on. DIdier Seguier says it’s likely to close down after 18-24 months but this is clearly a fine example with masses of potential.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2022 Chablis Bougros Côte Bouguerots Grand Cru has a clean and precise bouquet with hints of wild peach, apricot blossom, Mirabelle and crushed stone. The palate is well-balanced with a very harmonious entry, blackcurrant leaf and spice, crushed stone and what feels like plenty of extract on the finish. This has great potential, but afford it time in your cellar.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMThis is the coolest and most restrained of this group of 2022s with its elegant aromas of prominent mineral reduction, lemon-lime, spice and oyster shell. There is almost painful intensity to the intensely stony and strikingly well-detailed larger-bodied yet still beautifully refined flavors that display huge length on the impeccably well-balanced finale. Like the Preuses, this is very classy and built to repay extended keeping.Burghound | 93-95 BH

This also displays moderate wood influence on the ripe layered and pure nose that displays good layering and ample Chablis typicity. There is impressive mid-palate density to the opulent and lavishly rich medium-bodied flavors that possess a borderline lush, even creamy, mouthfeel, all wrapped in a citrusy and sneaky long finish. This unusually powerful effort should also be capable of mid-term development yet drink well after only 5 or so years.Burghound | 91-94 BH

The 2022 Chablis Valmur Grand Cru has a very aromatic bouquet with apple blossom, white peach, wet stone and light praline scents - complex. The palate is delineated and sapid on the entry, quite strict with quince and peach hints towards the sustained finish. Classy, if just missing the killer blow.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2022 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru is very fragrant on the nose with white peach, white chocolate and hints of wet stone scents, like a Vaillons-plus. The palate is well-defined, taut and fresh, with crisp acidity and good depth, but it starts to clam up towards the finish. Patience will be required, but there is no doubting the caliber of this Grand Cru.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

The 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots is very promising, bursting with aromas of orange zest, citrus blossom, buttery pastry and fresh hazelnuts. Full-bodied, satiny and layered, it’s elegantly textural, with attractive mid-palate depth and purity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2022 Chablis Blanchot Grand Cru is blessed with one of Piuze’s most enticing aromatics—gorgeous minty yellow plum mixed with jasmine and dried honey. The palate is well balanced with yellow plum (again), stem ginger, white peach and a hint of lemongrass. Very harmonious and persistent - this is an excellent Blanchot.Vinous Media | 93 VMSubtle if easily perceptible wood can be found on the airy and floral aromas of sea water, citrus and a hint of wet stone. The rich and solidly concentrated medium-bodied flavors exude an almost palpable minerality on the impressively long finale. This is notably more refined than the Bougros though it too could use better depth but with at least a decade of upside development potential, more will almost certainly develop.Burghound | 93 BHPale colour, a full and ripe nose, the white flowers are entwined with a little honeysuckle. Fresh enough on the palate with a fine white fruit thread, sinuous yet precise, and with great length. A fine and typical rendition of Blanchots. Drink from 2027-2037. Tasted: October 2023.Jasper Morris | 93 JM

The 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses is also rather rich and textural this year, mingling notes of sweet orchard fruit and confit orange with notions of toasted nuts and buttery pastry. Medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with lively acids and a saline finish, I’d expect this to take on more cut and tension by the time it’s bottled.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2022 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru has an elegant bouquet with apricot purée, yellow flowers and light Mirabelle aromas, with hints of crushed stone emerging with time. The palate is well-balanced, with a slightly viscous opening matched by a silver bead of acidity. The salinity comes through right on the finish. Excellent.Vinous Media | 93 VMA restrained nose grudgingly offers up a blend of green fruit, citrus, iodine, shellfish and a hint of quinine. There is again fine volume to the beautifully texture and more refined medium-bodied flavors that exude evident minerality on the equally long if not quite as complex finale. Lovely and I very much like the balance that should permit it to age gracefully.Burghound | 93 BH

The 2022 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru has a beautifully defined bouquet with yellow plum, wet stone, hints of baked bread and pressed white flowers. Very good intensity. The palate is well-balanced with fine delineation, very good salinity and tension with superb precision towards the finish. This Les Clos doesn’t want the Valmur to get all the acclaim.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMModerate wood is present on the overtly floral-suffused nose of mostly white fleshed fruit, especially pear and apple, along with notes of citrus confit, acacia and oyster shell whiffs. There is excellent richness and concentration to the markedly powerful larger-scaled flavors that coat the palate on the overtly stony, dry and compact finale. At least moderate patience will be required as this is pretty tightly wound.Burghound | 92-95 BH