Chardonnay Wines

wines

(Chablis Montmains 1er Cru, Domaine William Fèvre, White) From all three sections of the vineyard as usual. Racy lemon colour. Pure crystalline nose, very little reduction, very classical left bank Chablis, very intense but neither heavy nor exotic. The kimmeridgian is speaking underneath a graceful layer of flesh. Fruit and stones both keep coming back at the finish.Jasper Morris | 92-95A wine from a selection of sites over 3.9ha in Butteaux, Forêts and Montmains. Butteaux is very cold and mineral, while Forêts is elegant and floral. Great precision and focus here, allied with crystalline citrus fruits on the palate. Shows density, but is also very fresh, with lovely mineral characters on the finish. A highly successful Montmains.Decanter | 93 DECHere too the nose is elegant, pure and layered but with more floral and spice nuances adding breadth to the cooler and more restrained aromas. There is both excellent intensity and density to the mineral-driven flavors that terminate in a bone-dry, sneaky long and balanced finale. This too is really very good.Burghound | 91-93 BHConsisting of roughly equal parts Montmains, Butteaux and Forêts (the three sous-climats of Montmains), the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains offers up aromas of crisp green apple, white flowers, bee pollen and oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, it’s taut and precise, concluding with a saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP(Chablis “Montmains”- Domaine William Fèvre) The 2020 Montmains here is also lovely, with perhaps just a bit more definition and complexity than in the Beauroy. The nose is pure and bright, offering up scents of apple, tart orange, wet stone minerality, citrus peel, dried flowers and a nice shading of oyster shell. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and racy in personality, with fine focus and grip, a lovely core and a long, minerally and beautifully balanced finish. A lovely example. (Drink between 2026 - 2055)John Gilman | 92+ JGThe 2020 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru comes from 3.8 hectares of vines over 12 parcels and offers pressed white flower scents and a touch of crushed rock. The well-defined palate features red apple mixed with subtle spicy notes that dovetail into a generous, leesy finish. Fine.Vinous Media | 89-91 VM

The 2019 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has a less flamboyant bouquet than its peers. This feels more reserved and flinty, though very nicely defined and focused. The palate is well balanced, with the weight and density I look for in a Vaillon, and a little spicier than the Vosgros. A touch of lemongrass and a hint of green olive appear toward the finish. Fine.Vinous Media | 91 VMAromas of peach, apricot, honey, white flowers and iodine preface the 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and charming wine that’s the most demonstrative premier cru in the cellar this year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RP

The 2020 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has a flinty, focused, energetic nose that feels more harmonious than the preceding Côte de Léchet. The palate is taut, fresh and saline in the mouth, showing great depth and concentration toward the finish. This will be worth looking out for.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMHere there is less citrus and more floral influence on the white pepper and mineral reduction-inflected nose. The sleek, intense and attractively textured medium-weight flavors possess a bracing salinity on the agreeably dry, chiseled and well-focused finale that is just a bit firmer. Lovely.Burghound | 91 BH

The 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Séchet opens in the glass with scents of citrus oil, white flowers, beeswax, oyster shell, wet chalk and mandarin. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and strikingly intense, it’s taut and chiseled, with tangy acids and huge reserves of concentration, concluding with a pungently chalky finish. As I’ve written before, Séchet—where Dauvissat owns a 0.8-hectare parcel—is located in the Vaillons Valley, but its windier situation and soils richer in active limestone mean it’s typically more tensile and incisive than the other climats that make up Vaillons. Technically retired but very much a continuing presence at his eponymous domaine, Vincent Dauvissat—who forsook a career as a shepherd to become one of France’s most celebrated vignerons—couldn’t disguise his satisfaction as we tasted his recently bottled 2019 portfolio. After some discussion, we settled on the 1989 vintage ("but tighter and more incisive") as a possible analogy for 2019’s hyper-concentrated, ripe, but all the while classically Chablisien style. In any case, they’re some of the wines of the vintage and are well worth seeking out. Readers will remember that farming here is organic but without certification. The harvest is by hand, and the wines ferment in tank before racking to barrel with the lees (Raveneau’s Chablis, by contrast, are racked to barrel more or less without their lees), spending a second winter in wood before bottling. A first bottling, destined for the American market. | 94 RP The 2019 Chablis Séchets 1er Cru has an elegant and more floral bouquet compared to Vincent Dauvissat’s other 2019s, beautifully defined and offering baked apple, pear and white flower scents. The palate is well balanced with a spicy opening, plus hints of stem ginger and walnut. Quite tensile and full on the finish. Good potential here.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMA markedly citrusy and noticeably cooler nose combines notes of mineral reduction with those of pear and apple confit. There is again very good volume and mid-palate density on the seductively textured medium-bodied flavors that are also quite dry on the balanced finale. This is a powerful Séchet that is even more robust and one that will need to add depth with age, but it should do just that if given a chance.Burghound | 92 BH

Pale lemon colour, racy and fruity together, quite exuberant, a little warmth but the fruit is in the lead and it finishes cleanly on the minerals, with very good length. Long slow fermentation through to the next harvest. This works very well. Tasted: June 2021.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JM

The 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru has a very focused, mineral-driven bouquet with touches of yellow plum, pressed flowers, lemon verbena and a hint of patisserie. The palate is well balanced, lively and full of energy, the 25% new oak neatly integrated. A lovely zestiness comes through on the finish. This is very promising.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

Notes of peonies, rose petals, raspberries, orange oil and spices introduce the 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Boudriotte, a medium to full-bodied, pretty and perfumed wine that’s seamless and elegant, concluding with a long, perfumed finish. It’s well worth seeking out.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RPOpulent, this red features cherry, blackberry, spices and a flash of iron, with plush texture and solid structure. Revealing excellent balance, this fades gracefully with the fruit, mineral and spice notes. Drink now through 2032.Wine Spectator | 92 WSPungent aromas of matchstick, petrol and a phenolic hint precede rich, robust and concentrated medium-bodied flavors that flash evident power on the mildly warm and slightly rustic finale. This is solidly constituted and should repay mid-term cellaring out to about 10 years.Burghound | 91 BH

Matured for one year in barrel and six months in tank, the 2019 Montagny 1er Cru delivers aromas of pear, peach and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, ample and charming, with a satiny attack and mouthwatering acids, it’s the most open-knit, giving white in the cellar, and it’s drinking well out of the gates.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPPurchased fruit, blended from two sites - L’Épaule and Creux de Beauchamp - planted with old vines. Both vineyards are densely planted and propagated using massale selection, to give super-ripe grapes with aromas of apple and just a bit of spice. A long maturation on the lees gives this wine a density and supple texture that is truly appealing. Drinking Window 2021 - 2029.Decanter | 90 DEC

The 2017 Meursault 1er Cru Goutte d’Or is an elegant, precise wine that was less advanced in its élevage than the Meursault lieux-dits that proceeded it. Offering up aromas of apple, pear, white flowers and pastry cream, it’s medium to full-bodied, satiny and delicately textural, with good concentration and reserved depth at the core that suggests more is to come. I look forward to revisiting it from bottle.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | (91-93)+ RPThe 2017 Meursault Goutte d’Or 1er Cru possesses a sunny bouquet of tropical scents of pineapple, honey and peach, perhaps just missing the delineation of its peers. The palate is well balanced and slightly honeyed in texture (possibly with a touch of botrytis?). Very harmonious, with lovely white peach and Nashi pear notes toward the Puligny-like finish. A very classy Meursault that should age well in bottle. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune.Vinous Media | 91 VM

Vestiges of malolactic fermentation presently mask the underlying fruit. On the plus side there is more volume still to the attractively textured medium weight flavors that brim with dry extract on the mineral-inflected, dry and focused finish. This is at once powerful yet refined and should also age well but be enjoyable young.Burghound | 89-92 BHLumpp opines that the stony, southeast-facing slopes of this lieu-dit represent Givry’s best terroir for white wine, and his 2016 Givry 1er Cru Crausot is certainly impressive, revealing fragrant aromas of white peaches and spring blossom, followed by a medium-bodied, elegantly glossy palate, with lovely purity and stony depth. It has the structure to improve with a few years’ bottle age.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

Cool, pure and elegant aromas include those of honeysuckle, green apple and a pretty range of citrus elements. There is a bit more volume if less minerality to the medium weight flavors that deliver excellent length on the balanced if slightly less complex finale. This is also very good and offers similar development potential.Burghound | 91-93 BH