Burgundy Wines

wines

Old vines directly on the mother rock. Mid lemon yellow, a bouquet which is more about ripe citrus and maybe some herbal notes, verbena. Striking linear energy on the palate, the ripe citrus continuing through to the finish. All the Chassagne-Montrachet 1ers crus are quite different, which is a very positive point in favour of the vintage (and Adrien’s skills!) Drink from 2028-2034. Jasper Morris | 93 JMAromas of pear, pastry cream and white flowers introduce the 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers, a medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless wine that’s pure and racy.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RPA slightly cooler and airier nose is comprised by notes of just sliced citrus and apple along with pretty floral nuances. The middle weight flavors aren’t not as rich or powerful though they are finer with a subtle minerality adding a sense of lift to the vibrant, balanced and long finale that isn’t quite as complex. While this isn’t quite as interesting as the Fairendes, it still merits interest.Burghound | 91 BH

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet from Domaine Chartron is another very fine village wine. It delivers a refined bouquet of white peach, apple, chalky soil tones, spring flowers, a nice touch of fresh almond and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, racy and sports a fine core of fruit, with a good soil foundation, seamless balance and a long, complex and nicely precise finish. Good juice. (Drink between 2025 - 2045)John Gilman | 91+ JGThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Village is a combination of Chartron’s own vineyard plus exchanges with other growers. This has commendable vivacity and focus, with Granny Smith and fresh Anjou pears on the nose. The palate is well defined with orchard fruit tones intermixed with touches of orange rind and spice. This has fine length and admirable precision for its class. It is recommended.Vinous Media | 89-91 VMMade from Les Benoîtes and young vine Caillerets. A lime tint to the colour, with some flesh on the nose, and a little well-judged oak. This is very prettily balanced, no more than medium depth, with a good fruit-acid balance. Drink from 2027-2030. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 89-90 JMA more elegant and markedly more floral-suffused nose speaks of various white orchard fruit and quinine that is again trimmed in enough wood to notice. It can also be found on the rich and solidly voluminous flavors that possess a more sophisticated texture before concluding in a vaguely off dry finish. This is pretty but the off dry style appeals somewhat less to me than other wines in the range.Burghound | 88-91 BH

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

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

Displays a bright lemon peel and green apple fruit, with a bottom note of flinty minerality and just a hint of smoky reduction. The texture, however, is richer than the aromas would lead one to think – it is supple and approachable, with a hint of hazelnut on the agreeable finish. The domaine farms slightly more than a quarter-hectare near the base of the slope.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECPale colour, a softer white orchard fruit on the nose, there being more clay in the soil here. The mouth retains a certain juiciness, with the apples expanding towards the back of the palate. Clean and correct. Drink from 2027-2030. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 90 JM

Because it is blocked by the peak known as the Roche Dumay, this south-facing slope overlooking the hamlet of Gamay does not get the sun until after 10am, but it has light into the evening, lending the fruit a slightly exotic passion fruit character. The texture is not heavy, however, and winemaker Sébastien Caillat manages both elegance and finesse, although he notes that the ripeness can jump quickly at the end of the season.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECIn the hail corridor. .En Créot does not see the sun until 10am so harder to do the treatments when there is still dew. Pale in colour with a light white fruit. Some ripe apples, middleweight, a little more mineral tension than the village wine, with good length. Drink from 2027-2030. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 90 JM