92-94 Point Wines

wines

A fluid version, exhibiting apple, lemon and baking spice flavors, plus a hint of the sea. Though compact, this is resonant and propelled by vivid acidity through the intense, well-delineated finish. Offers fine balance and length. Best from 2027 through 2035. 300 cases made, 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux 1er Cru is more understated but more complex than the Hameau, with fine delineation and crushed stone infusing malic scents. The palate is well balanced with a twist of sour lemon on the entry, tensile and focused with a precise and quite persistent finish. This is a well-crafted Puligny that will give a decade’s drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 92 VM

The 2023 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is the richest, broadest wine in the range, bursting with aromas of honeyed pears, white flowers, freshly baked bread and beeswax. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it’s layered and textural, with a sweet core of fruit that’s balanced by good energy and grip.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

The 2023 Meursault 1er Cru Les Cras is pretty, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, confit lemon, orange zest and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, mineral and chalky, with a sweet core of fruit girdled by bright acids, it’s pure and precise.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPHere too there is a suggestion of the exotic to the aromas of white peach, tangerine, mineral reduction and once again, a hint of phenolic character. This medium weight flavors aren’t quite as dense though they are just a bit finer while offering fine length and an almost palpable sense of minerality on the balanced and youthfully austere finish that, interestingly enough given that this is a premier cru, isn’t quite as structured.Burghound | 91 BH

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Fairendes is showing especially well, revealing aromas of pear and crisp white peach mingled with hints of matchstick, toasted nuts and flowers. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it’s unctuous and elegant, with terrific purity and a penetrating finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RP5 barrels are kept separate from the Morgeot blend. Pale colour, attractive energy to this, more upper slope class than the Morgeot mix. A wealth of fruit across the palate, generous and charming together, with energy behind. A complete white fruit wine that is worth taking time over. Drink from 2028-2034. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 93 JMThis is even more floral-suffused with notes of acacia, white rose and gardenia adding breadth to the ripe yet cool aromas of pear, apple and crushed fennel. The rich, generously proportioned and solidly powerful larger-bodied flavors manage to remain nicely refined on the sappy and palate staining finish. This is also worth checking out.Burghound | 92 BH

The 2023 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru has an attractive bouquet that seems to "expand" in the glass: apricot and peach skin meet a touch of melted candle wax, all nicely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with fine mineralité, fresh and focused, gaining weight towards the finish, which actually reminds me of the Perrières from Ballot-Millot. Excellent.Vinous Media | 93 VM

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet 1er Cru showed more reduction on the nose, yet there is clearly a lot of intensity here. It’s slightly more resinous than its peers, containing touches of melted candle wax and lanolin. The palate is well balanced and poised, with a keen silver thread of acidity and real energy building toward an assertive and complex finish. It is far superior to the 2022 when I tasted it last year. This is superb.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMA fine mid lemon colour. Discretion continues to be the Sauzet watchword. The Champ Canet has the ideal balance between the concentration of white fruit flesh, acidity, nuance and length. The fruit ripples over a bed of minerals. Very compelling. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMVery firm reduction is such that the lightly wooded nose reveals nothing today. By contrast, there is good verve to the delicious and attractively textured flavors that aren’t quite as dense as those of the Truff but, also somewhat unusually, they do display more minerality on the bitter lemon zest-inflected finale.Burghound | 90-93 BH

Opens with just a bit of reduction, but this will disappear at bottling. The aromas are compellingly attractive, with ripe blackberry and blueberry fruit and a slightly floral edge. The texture has density, grip and a marvellously lingering finish. The grapes are from a half-hectare on a gentle slope exposed to the south. This should mature fairly quickly but is also suited to mid-term ageing.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2023 Monthélie Sous la Velle 1er Cru comes from a 0.35-hectare parcel. It has an airy bouquet with dark berry fruit mixed with mandarin and light sous-bois scents. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and much more structure than the Village Cru, with a bright and sorbet-fresh finish. This is recommended.Vinous Media | 89-91 VM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet “Boudriotte” from Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard is not quite as buttoned up behind its structure as the lovely la Grande Montagne, but it too is going to need a couple of years in the cellar before drinking in earnest. The wine offers up a lovely bouquet of apple, lime, wet stone minerality, a touch of almond, vanillin oak and a Ramonet-like hint of peppermint in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep. full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with a fine core, lovely acids and grip and a long, well balanced and zesty finish. Fine juice. (Drink between 2029-2060)John Gilman | 93 JGThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte 1er Cru comes from lower down the slope. It has a taut and fresh bouquet—a little austere at first—but gradually reveals its energy. The palate is well balanced with a brisk, edgy opening and citrus-fresh orange zest notes toward the penetrating finish. This has great potential. I can imagine it marrying perfectly with fruits de mer.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis is also quite firmly reduced though here too there is both good freshness and vibrancy to the slightly bigger-bodied and more powerful, if less mineral-driven, flavors that also offer acceptable depth and persistence though here, the finish isn’t as awkward. Again, I attribute the slight lack of harmony to the very recent bottling.Burghound | 91 BH

I drink Chassagne “Caillerets” so seldom these days, but there was a time when I was a wine merchant that I probably drank wines from this beautiful premier cru more often than any other in the Côte de Beaune. So, I am always delighted to taste a great example, as is the 2023 from the Fontaine family. The wine is young and still a touch reductive on the nose, but with swirling reveals a beautiful bouquet of lime, pear, apple, a gorgeously complex base of chalky minerality, a hint of fresh almond, spring flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure, full-bodied and mineral-driven, with a great core of fruit, superb girdle of acidity, laser-like focus and a very long, complex and racy finish. This wine has perfect balance. (Drink between 2030-2070)John Gilman | 95 JGThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets 1er Cru has a very harmonious bouquet, fine mineralité and terroir expression and touches of oyster shell infusing the citrus fruit. The palate is well balanced with a rounded texture. There’s a fine silver bead of acidity here, a little richer in style, fanning out marvelously on the finish. This is excellent.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMSmoky and vaguely exotic aromas include those of white peach, passion fruit, citrus confit and a hint of wet stone. There is evident minerality to the delicious middle weight flavors that possess a lovely texture before delivering excellent length on the balanced finale that, once again, could use better depth. One to consider. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 92 BH

Aromas of ripe apples, chalk and stone with hints of crushed oyster shells, following through to a full body with a creamy texture and a long, crunchy finish. Subtle Meursault. Drink now.James Suckling | 94 JSEverything in its place, and that’s what this wine is. Perfectly ripe citrus and orchard fruits balanced with fresh honeysuckle create a refreshingly inviting nose. The palate is round and rich, vanilla coating the mouth before brisk acidity resets, introducing intense stony minerality trailing along the finish. Delicious and easy to enjoy now with tender pork or roasted chicken. Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEOf these three fine villages level bottlings from the Côte de Beaune, the 2023 Meursault is my favorite this year. The bouquet is bright and impressively complex this year, soaring from the glass in a mix of apple, pear, hazelnuts, fruit blossoms, chalky soil tones, vanillin oak and a beautiful topnote of orange zest. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, complex and really shows outstanding depth at the core, with excellent precision and balance, a superb core of fruit, lovely acids and a long, focused and very classy finish. The backend lift here is most impressive! (Drink between 2025-2050)John Gilman | 92 JGThe 2023 Meursault Village is the most structured of these three communal-level whites, exhibiting notes of pear, white flowers and toasted nuts, followed by a medium-bodied palate with good cut and a saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90+ RPFine lemon and lime from Drouhin’s stable source in Meursault, a little fuller and richer than the other two main villages, but with a fresh aspect to the generous fruit which works very well. Excellent aftertaste, Drink from 2028-2033. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JMThe 2023 Meursault Village has a lovely nose, perhaps the best of the white Village Crus from Drouhin, with lovely yellow fruit and melted butter aromas. The latter comes through on the palate with a countervailing saltiness toward the finish. This is recommended.Vinous Media | 89-91 VMA very Meursault-like nose freely offers up its aromas of acacia blossom, pear, hazelnut and discreet spice wisps. The generous and fleshy medium-bodied flavors retain good vibrancy and detail before culminating a balanced, long and youthfully austere finale. Interestingly, this isn’t as suave as the Puligny or as complex as the Chassagne, but the overall sense of harmony is better than either plus it should age well. (Drink starting 2029)Burghound | 89-91

A notably more elegant nose of perfumed floral elements, especially acacia and gardenia, add breadth to the aromas of essence of pear and spice. I very much like the sense of underlying tension running through the solidly concentrated medium weight flavors that exude a subtle bead of minerality on the unusually powerful finish that displays excellent length. One to consider. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 92 BHThe 2023 Meursault Les Charmes 1er Cru presents aromas of popcorn, hazelnut and smoke, not quite as sophisticated as the Santenots but far off. The palate is taut and fresh, with a veneer of wood that will integrate by the time of bottling. Richer in style, though not exotic, it offers a persistent peppery finish. Give this three or four years in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis has excellent freshness for a site that’s normally all about generosity and weight, but also plenty of toast and smoke aromas and flavors. Some depth on the medium-bodied palate and a crisp finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 91 JSAn even mid lemon yellow. The bouquet suggests a robust wine to follow, though less fruit up front. At the moment the bouquet has a temporary suggestion of something slightly rubbery which will come out with fining. Plenty going on, good structure, just the detail to refine. Drink from 2029-2036. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Vergers 1er Cru has a bright nose with yellow plum, white peach and light sea spray scents that opens beautifully in the glass. The palate is very well balanced and quite intense with a bit more body than other cuvées. It’s a little honeyed toward the finish but the acidity keeps everything in check. This is a charming Chassagne.Vinous Media | 92 VM

Mid lemon yellow. Grilled almonds Marjolaine suggests, and I agree. Once more the flesh and the oak on the nose are apparent. All the requisite weight and white fruit, silky length, a little salinity, understated but very long indeed. Rather hidden at the moment. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMThe 2023 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, from vines planted in 1996, had quite a bit of that matchstick reduction on the nose when I tasted it from barrel, but you can discern the concentration here. The palate is well balanced with a slightly honeyed opening. Acidity counters its richness as hints of ginger and white pepper emerge toward the finish. Powerful compared to its peers, this Grand Cru will require two or three years in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

This is even cooler and more restrained as the nose only grudgingly reveals its aromas of mineral reduction, green apple, spice, acacia blossom and a deft touch of wood. The gorgeously textured medium weight flavors brim with both minerality and sappy dry extract that buffers the youthfully austere and even more persistent finish. This too is very classy and a classic Clos de la Mouchère of grace and poise. If you can find it, buy it.Burghound | 95 BHA fuller yellow here, and an extra degree of completeness, more weight and almost all the class. The oak is still at 50% new and is very well integrated. Gorgeously rich, with little fruits dancing through a meadow. Once again, I do see the magic of this. Henri was strongly advised by his father to look after “Madame de la Mouchère”. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchère 1er Cru is another very classy wine. Vertical in feel, the 2023 is super-bright from the outset. White pepper, flowers, mint, sage and pear reinforce that impression. Readers will find an airy, deceptively mid-weight Puligny that possesses remarkable depth.Vinous Media | 93-95 VM

This is a blend of Le Charlemagne, and Hautes Mourottes, which from 2024 Pierre-François will make separately, calling the former Charlemagne and the latter Corton-Charlemagne. In 2023 there are eight barrels worth, made in two new barrels, two older barrels and a concrete egg. These have been racked to tank since just after the harvest. Pale in colour, stony with a little toast also. Crisp white orchard fruit with a little flesh behind, and good tension. Nicely balanced at 13.5% alcohol. Drink from 2029-2038. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JM