Burgundy Wines

wines

A lovely mid purple. Very perfumed and with density, I suspect with detail to follow as well. Succulent, and with amazing depth plus magical length. One or two darker fruit notes, stopping short of chocolate. But this is a profound and sensual Echezeaux from a domaine noted for its lighter style. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted: November 2023.Jasper Morris | 96-98 JMThe 2022 Echézeaux Les Loachausses Grand Cru (not the easiest lieu-dit to pronounce but is actually a monopole of the Gros family) is the most taciturn on the nose amongst Anne Gros’ cuvées. There is a touch of crushed stone that develops in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a lot of sucrosity on the entry. It has fine depth and is quite linear, and maybe it needs to muster a little more complexity and terroir expression on the finish. I’m sure it will.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMModerate wood influence can be found on the exuberantly spicy and smoky nose of mostly dark currant and violet scents. There is good energy to the delicious if not especially dense middleweight flavors that conclude in a firm finale that exudes focused power as well as a touch of warmth.Burghound | 91-93 BH

The lemony nose shines like the morning star. Very cool and elegant with no trace of the opulence that’s widely considered to be typical for this appellation. Becomes more and more fascinating the further it flows over your palate. Wonderful, crystalline minerality and lime freshness at the very long finish. From 8.6 hectares of vines at 300 meters altitude on a stony, limestone soil, where the grapes have to be picked a week later than those in the warmer sites of this appellation. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSThere is a lovely freshness to Bouchard’s Meursault Les Clous 2022 that brings a marvellous balance and length to the wine. The initial attack boasts aromas of citrus and apricot, acacia flowers and a saline minerality. There is richness as well, with notes of marzipan as the wine opens up on the palate. The grapes are from a parcel of over eight hectares that average 300 metres elevation, planted in stony marl soils that hold enough water to avoid stress in the summer’s heat.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECThe 2022 Meursault Les Clous has a slight reduction on the nose, making it difficult to read. The fresh palate has plenty of extract, orange pith, mandarin and light stem ginger touches, becoming quite waxy in texture towards the finish. With good weight and length, this is much better than the previous vintage.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMNotably cooler aromas are comprised by notes of lemon rind, hazelnut and acacia blossom. The medium weight flavors are finer but not denser while exuding evident minerality on the slightly drier and sneaky long finish. This is an excellent villages and is recommended, especially for those who have the patience to cellar it for up to a decade. One to look for, particularly for value.Burghound | 90-92 BHAromas of pear, orange oil, mint and grapefruit introduce the 2022 Meursault Les Clous, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and giving wine with an expressive core of fruit and a saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 89-91 RPMid lemon and lime. A perfumed floral hillside note. Quite lean on the palate but with a fresh drive that keeps the white fruit going through to the back of the palate. Drink from 2027-2033. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JM

Restrained and with notable concentration, this is an intense premier cru with great potential. Notes of peach fruit cut with zesty lime citrus. Very fine. From 68-year-old vines on very dense, white clay soils which are like concrete when dry, heavy when wet.Decanter | 94 DECThe 2022 Chablis Butteaux Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru comes from vines around 70 years old, only slightly older than the regular cuvée, but on different soils (white clay rather than brown with high fossil content). It is usually bottled slightly later. The nose is a little more expressive with hints of red cherries and peach skin - very well defined. The palate is well-balanced with more harmony than the regular cuvée, a crisp line of acidity and touches of oyster shell on the saline finish. Great persistence here. Excellent.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMSmall millerand crop that ripened early. Pale in colour without too much nose. Nicely balanced on the palate though, a more tightly knit white fruit than the regular bottling, with a little lemon zest, and a balanced long finish. Picked at the right moment I suspect. Drink from 2027-2035. Tasted: June 2023.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JMThis is similar to the regular cuvée except that it seems ever-so-slightly riper. By contrast, there is better concentration and power to the medium-bodied flavors and, somewhat unusually, the mouthfeel is finer as well, particularly on the more complex if also more austere finale. Lovely.Burghound | 90-93 BH

In Les Combards, the upper slope section of Caillerets. Pale lemon yellow. Quite a strict nose, a little suggestion of sulphur in with the stones. Always likely to be more austere from its location. At this stage at least it is not quite as complete as the very best Caillerets, but lovely wine. The finish is the best, with ripe lemons. Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMThe 2022 Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets 1er Cru has another expressive bouquet, with hints of yellow flower combining with citrus peel and lemon verbena. This gains intensity in the glass. The palate is well balanced, with a crisp, orange rind- and tangerine-tinged entry. Perhaps the Morgeot Les Grand Clos conveys more terroir on the finish, but this will still offer eight to ten years’ drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 91 VM

Cool, fresh and lively, yet the brisk acidity provides a great counterfoil for some succulent, juicy and ripe fruit. Clear Chablis origin, with the focus and intensity on the palate. This should have a long drinking window and is a very classy example, marrying the warmth of 2022 and the density of the premier cru.Decanter | 94 DEC

Julien Brocard’s ’7 Lieux’ are seven distinct vineyards, run biodynamically under his own name. Fermented with indigenous yeast and matured for 12 months in foudres. Lovely wine with a fine balance of fleshiness, power, vivid acidity and lingering minerality to keep everything precise and in check. You can almost feel the health of the vineyard. Delicious.Decanter | 94 DECThe 2022 Chablis La Boissonneuse has a clean, precise bouquet with more mineralité than the Petit Chablis, a subtle crustacea scent emerging with time. The palate is taut on the entry with commendable linearity, certainly one of the stricter, meaner takes of the vintage that will appeal to Chablis purists. Good value.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Very cool and and focused, this mouthwatering Saint Romain has an extreme chalky minerality. Only medium-bodied, but really concentrated. Super-fresh and focused finish with so much fresh herb complexity (think sage and thyme). Very long and polished finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2022 Saint-Romain Sous Le Velle is comparatively more backward on the nose, a little chalky in style with light Golden Delicious and orange pith scents. There is fine delineation with neatly integrated oak. The palate is well-balanced, with a tang of orange zest on the entry. This has a silver beard of acidity, lending real tension and matching the impressive depth towards the vibrant finish. Sous Le Velle is often one of the go-to vineyards in Saint-Romain, and this proves exactly why.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMPalish lemon and lime. A fine and classy bouquet, floral but still with the racy freshness of St-Romain. Fresh apples on the palate, with an intensity that will demand a little bottle age. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

The magnificent, carousel-like sweep of the hill of Corton – almost 100 m top to bottom, and revelling in every exposition save north – means that exact location on the hill is critical for quality. The white wines of Corton-Charlemagne come overwhelmingly from south-west- and west-facing vineyards, coolly exposed, so often these are among the least articulate of all Burgundy’s great white Grands Crus in their youth. Not, though, in the case of this wine from the generous 2022 vintage. It’s promisingly pale, but already compelling on the nose, with subtle oak, wild hawthorne blossom and refined grape and cool citrus. It has all the controlled breadth you’d expect on the palate with more white blossom and subtle, vinous, breath-freshening fruits. The finish is long and lingering, mingling ripe, fruit-bonded acidity with a quiet pulse of ripeness. It will, of course, be better after a decade in a cool cellar, but there’s nothing to stop you enjoying the wine soon, either. Alcohol 13.0%. (DWWA 2024). - Decanter | 97 DECFour plots all in Pernand. Pale in colour with ripe apple notes. The bouquet suggests a leaner style of wine than the palate delivers, which may be a question of being just after bottling. There is some complexity on the palate, a little lime, a phenolic touch. I don’t notice the 40% new wood, so there is clearly good fruit concentration.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JM

An unusually bright, light-gold color with hints of green in it distinguish this rare wine from the first glance before rich, layered and complex aromas lead to even richer poached pears, hazelnuts and cream on the palate. Full-bodied but light on its feet, the wine shows deft balance, great depth and incredible length on the finish. Best from 2028.James Suckling | 100 JSDrouhin’s Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche is always a classic expression of Montrachet, and often among the best ’bargains’ from this site. The 2022 has exotic aromas of ripe peach, nectarine, green apple and hints of acacia flowers, star anise, and beeswax. The texture has the weight of the vineyard and a creamy opulence, yet there is enough freshness to carry the wine to a charmingly persistent finish. The grapes from the Laguiche holdings are from five parcels totalling just over two hectares, picked in three passes by the Drouhin team. (Drink between 2030 - 2070)Decanter | 96 DECStill on its fine lees. A fine fresh very pale primrose colour. Super discreet nose, just offering some light floral notes at first, but you know there is so much more to come. It is not over exuberant but the fruit comes across the palate in little wavelets, perfectly balanced acidity, the oak subsumed into the intensity of the fruit. The 2022 Marquis de Laguiche Montrachet bows out with a wonderfully long and fine finish. Drink from 2034-2045. Tasted: November 2023.Jasper Morris | 96-98 JMThe 2022 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Grand Cru was harvested in three picks this year. Exhibiting aromas of pear, peach, honeycomb, toasted nuts, baking spices and buttered toast, it’s full-bodied, ample and unctuous, with a richly layered core of fruit, lively acids and a long, resonant finish. Tasted from a barrel sample before an aerating racking, it displayed fine tension.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPSmoky notes of mineral reduction add breadth to the cool and airy nose of mildly exotic white peach, citrus confit and a plenitude of floral wisps that are trimmed in discreet oak influence. The refined medium weight flavors possess good if not genuinely special density but with a positively gorgeous texture that carries over to the stony bitter lemon zest finale that possesses stunningly good length and terrific complexity. This is very classy and a wine that I suspect will add weight with bottle aging.Burghound | 93-96 BH

There is good Chablis typicity present in the form of iodine, seashore and petrol along with citrus zest top notes. The delicious, vibrant and precise middle weight flavors flash good minerality on the clean, dry and saline-inflected finish. This is very good for its level and worth considering.Burghound | 89-91 BHThe 2023 Chablis Village was assembled for my visit by Didier Picq from 10 vats. It has an attractive if light bouquet with apple blossom and fresh pear aromas. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, a little creaminess towards the finish. This will drink well for 4-6 years.Vinous Media | 88-90 VMBlend made up. Fresh pale yellow, immediate energy on the nose, this keeps growing in the glass, with good tension, even a little pleasing bitterness at the finish. Very promising. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted Jul 2024.Jasper Morris | 87-90 JM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Village is the usual blend of six terroirs although in 2025, Céline Fontaine told me that the large production might result in one of those being bottled as a separate cuvée. There is a pleasant reduction at play here. It’s quite tensile with yellow fruit and light crushed stone scents. The palate is well balanced with a keen line of acidity, very pure with a slightly richer, honeyed finish that is irresistible. I see this having wide commercial appeal.Vinous Media | 90 VM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean 1er Cru was picked a couple of days earlier than the Clos des Murées. Despite being opened the evening before my visit, there is still some reduction on the nose. The palate is taut, fresh, quite nutty and Meursault-like in style with an energetic, persistent finish. Give this a year or two in bottle—it is very promising.Vinous Media | 91+ VMHere too there is a suggestion of the exotic with its citrus confit and white and yellow peach-scented nose. The seductive, round and generously proportioned flavors retain good punch that carries over to the bone-dry, balanced and lemon-tinged finale. As is usually the case, this is quite fine, indeed it’s a wine of finesse and if it can add more depth than I presently project, my rating may well be too conservative.Burghound | 90 BH

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

The 2023 Gevrey-Chambertin Champerrier is very pure and sensual on the nose, with generous red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit tones that envelop the senses. The palate is well balanced with a gentle grip, but there is more energy and greater frisson toward the finish than the Vieilles Vignes, which beckons you back for another sip. This is excellent.Vinous Media | 93 VMHere too there is just enough wood to merit pointing out suffusing the compositionally similar, if less expressive, nose. The succulent and rounded medium weight flavors still manage to retain good detail on the solidly powerful, youthfully austere and moderately rustic finish that is both compact and robust. This is an excellent Gevrey villages that is worth your interest.Burghound | 90 BH

The 2023 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er Cru has an expressive bouquet with pure red cherry, raspberry and strawberry fruit tones bounding from the glass with nascent energy. The oak is neatly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. It has more depth than the Lavaux—a little broader in the mouth. This is very harmonious toward the finish with greater backbone. It’s excellent.Vinous Media | 94 VMAn even crimson ruby colour. The fruit is more immediate than the Ruchottes. This is seamless across the palate and leaves a gorgeously balanced feeling of little red fruits at the finish, entirely covering the tannins, which in any case are refined. There is a little minerality too as befits Cazetiers. Really a lovely stylish finale. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 94-96 JMSubtle wood influence can be found on the spicy and ripe aromas of poached plum and floral nuances, especially violet. The sleek, delineated and powerful flavors are a mix of the refinement and minerality of the Estournelles St. Jacques with the power and muscle of the Lavaut St. Jacques, all wrapped in a more complex, longer and more structured finale. This is excellent and warmly recommended.Burghound | 93 BH

I am always so happy to see Pat Piuze’s new rendition of Vaulorent, as this is one of my favorite premier crus in all of Chablis and not too many domaines produce a bottling. The 2023 Vaulorent is excellent, offering up a deep and vibrant bouquet of apple, pear, lime peel, a complex base of limestone minerality, beeswax and a beautiful floral topnote redolent of orange blossoms. On the palate the wine is precise, deep and full-bodied, with impressive complexity, a lovely core of fruit, fine mineral drive and grip, a good girdle of acidity and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is more reserved in personality than any of the other premier crus that has preceded it in the lineup and will need at least a few years in the cellar to start to blossom properly. Fine, fine juice. 2029-2060.John Gilman | 94 JG

Like the 2023 les Minots, the la Forêt chez Piuze is nicely expressive and generous right out of the blocks this year and will drink beautifully from the moment of release. The beautiful bouquet wafts from the glass in a mix of lemon, pear, chalky minerality, fruit blossoms, beeswax and a topnote of citrus peel. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and succulent at the core, with lovely mineral drive and grip, bouncy acids and a long, seamlessly balanced and zesty finish. Fine juice. 2025-2055.John Gilman | 93 JGThe more giving, fruit-forward 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Les Forêts offers a lovely contrast to the pronouncedly mineral Séchet. “It comes from the bottom of the valley, where the soils are deeper,” observes Piuze, and it’s evident in the glass, as the wine wafts with a deep bouquet of beeswax, peach skin and pear mingling with savory tones. Flamboyant, elegantly muscular and enveloping, it’s fleshy yet laden with lively acidity, concluding with a saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

From a site within the climat of Les Vaillons, where the vines are planted east to west and the grape skins are never kissed by the sun, Patrick Piuze’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Les Roncières has turned out very well. Opening in the glass to reveal a bouquet of beeswax, peach and lemon zest, it is medium-bodied, textural yet racy, with lovely tension and a long, mineral finish. It retains a classically Chablisien profile even in this warm year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPI have never seen another vigneron who bottled their Chablis “Les Roncières” on its own. As this premier cru can also be bottled as Vaillons, most producers choose this direction for labeling of this wine. As I have mentioned before, Pat’s parcel in the les Minots section of Vaillons has a completely different exposition than his vines in Roncières, so the two are bottled separately for a very good reason. The 2023 version is lovely, offering up a complex nose of lemon, pear, a complex base of chalky soil, paraffin, orange peel, a touch of anise and a topnote of lemon zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and impeccably balanced, with a very good core of fruit, fine transparency and grip, zesty acids and lovely nervosité on the long and precise finish. Fine juice. 2027-2055.John Gilman | 92+ JG

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

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Maltroye 1er Cru has a "buttoned-down" nose that demands coaxing to reveal its yellow fruit, hazelnut and light orange rind scents. The palate is well balanced and opens up wonderfully with aeration, displaying a touch of orange rind, spice and smokiness on the finish. It’s quite mercurial and, to my senses, fascinating.Vinous Media | 92 VM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeots 1er Cru has a little more mineralité on the nose than the Vergers. Its bouquet contains light hints of clementine and beeswax aromas. The palate is well balanced, fresh and concentrated with a slightly viscous opening. It just needs a little more terroir to shape the finish.Vinous Media | 90 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

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Village is a blend of three parcels (Les Chaumes, Lombardes and Charrières) and sees 15% aged in clay jars to gain freshness. It has a vibrant nose and fine mineralité, with a touch of orange zest and grapefruit developing in the glass. The palate is well balanced with a keen line of acidity and a twist of orange rind on the finish. Not long, but I appreciate the vigor and attack of this Chassagne Village.Vinous Media | 90 VMIn bottle. Pale lemon in colour. A little stricter than the Bourgogne Chardonnay, which provides better balance with the undeniable flesh behind. A good thread of acidity, a touch of fennel, a little salinity and persistent. Drink from 2026-2029. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 90 JM