Chardonnay Wines

wines

The 2020 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru is another precise, steely classic Chablis from Benoît Droin. The palate is beautifully balanced and poised, showing good concentration and wonderful cohesion and salinity toward the finish. I cannot wait to taste the final version.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMUnwinding in the glass with aromas of green apple, white flowers, mint and bee pollen, the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains is medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, with a textural attack and a long, saline finish. From a site characterized by white marls, it has performed well in this sunny vintage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPPale light colour with a juicy fruit nose, a wealth of joyous white fruit, very lightly peachy, not reductive this year. Benoît thinks will tighten up and refine its toastier character Jasper Morris | 90-92 JMn initial touch of reduction slowly gives way to very pretty and quite cool aromas timidly offer up notes of lemon-lime, white-fleshed fruit, sea breeze and a touch of algae character. There is good vibrancy and detail to the delicious and appealingly textured flavors that possess fine depth on the balanced finish that exhibits a touch of wood as it sits on the palate.Burghound | 91 BH

Firm reduction and a whiff of oak dominate the nose at present. Much more interesting are the beautifully textured, racy and detailed medium weight flavors that also possess a highly sophisticated mouthfeel while exhibiting stunningly good length on the bitter zest-inflected finish that goes on and on. This is terrific and easily delivers grand cru quality.Burghound | 94-96 BHMid lemon colour. As always, the bouquet rises above the others. I feel the need to keep on sniffing this! Brings a smile to the face. The 2021 Domaine Leflaive Pucelles offers such a complex mix of fruits, fresh apricot along with a mix of quality citrus, good density but above all a stylishness that expresses itself in a hugely long finish. Perfect balance with a lifted fresh elegance at the finish. This may yet earn a fifth star later in life. Drink from 2027-2035.Jasper Morris | 94-96 JMThe 2021 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 1er Cru has a crisp, petrichor and green apple-scented bouquet, tight at first but opening up nicely with aeration. The palate is fresh and crisp with a subtle reduction at play, fine depth, lightly spiced with stem ginger and a dab of lemongrass towards the finish. This should drink nicely over the next decade.Vinous Media | 89-91 VM

Firm reduction renders the nose unreadable at present. More interesting are the intense and beautifully textured medium weight flavors that also brim with minerality and ample amount of dry extract that buffers the firm acid spine supporting the unusually powerful, serious, compact and stunningly long finish. This is also like rolling small rocks around the mouth and is a wine that should amply repay a decade or more of keeping.Burghound | 91-94 BH The blended premier cru bottling of Terroir de Blagny is really good in 2021, but this is a structured wine that will need time in the cellar to unfurl. The bouquet is deep and youthful, offering up scents of tart orange, fresh pineapple, chalky soil elements, vanillin oak and a striking topnote of lemon blossoms. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and racy, with a superb core of fruit, impressive cut and grip, fine focus and a long, nascently complex and well balanced finish. (Drink between 2026 - 2055)John Gilman | 93 JGThere was just enough wine to fill one 350 litre and one 228 litre barrel, even with the three vineyards of Truffière, Hameau de Blagny and Champ Gain blended together. A vibrant fresh primrose colour, with plenty of energy to the nose as well. Fresh plums with citrus notes, a good density of fruit, some length behind. Still shows the hillside character. Savoury notes at the finish. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted: October 2022.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JMThe 2021 Puligny-Montrachet Terroir de Blagny 1er Cru is a blend of Hameau de Blagny, Champs Gain and Truffières that together amounted to 600 liters. It has an attractive nose of apple blossom, dewy meadow, wet limestone and citrus peel that unfolds in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with quite a sharp, citric entry. Vibrant and lively, though maybe not as complex as some of Sauzet’s best cuvées this year. But what else can you do with such miniscule volumes?Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

The 2021 Saint-Aubin Hommage à Marguerite debuted five vintages earlier, a blend of Les Perrières, Les Combes and Les Criots. It has a clean, precise bouquet with crushed limestone filtering through the green apple and white peach notes. Understated by gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is well-balanced with a peachy opening, good depth, a little creamier than other cuvées with ample weight on the Chassagne-inspired finish. Lovely.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMThe blended St-Aubin premier cru has impressive depth and richness, with aromas of apricot and quince underscored with mineral and floral notes. The texture is dense but lively, with crisp acidity and plenty of extract balancing precisely on the lingering finish. The grapes are blended from Les Perrières (near the village), Les Combes (down-slope from En Remilly), and Les Creots (in Gamay, facing due south). Colin feels the blend of the three is better than any of them bottled separately.Decanter | 92 DECA blend of three plots, Combes, Créot and Perrières. A little more colour here, while the nose is stricter up front. The fruit emerges more generously on the palate, with some yellow fruits and a lime-laden finish. A trace of youthful bitterness in the finish. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted: October 2022.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JMThe 2021 Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Hommage à Marguerite was quite tightly wound when I tasted it, unfurling in the glass with aromas of pear, citrus oil, clear honey, white flowers, toasted nuts and fresh mint. Medium-bodied, layered and rather concentrated, with racy acids and chalky grip, it will certainly benefit from further élevage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 89-91 RPModerate wood influence still allows the cool aromas of white flowers and petrol to be appreciated. There is a bit more volume if perhaps not quite the same underlying tension to the medium weight flavors that terminate in a stony and lingering finish that is quite dry while offering notably better depth.Burghound | 89-91 BH

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

The 2022 Chablis Grenouilles Grand Cru has a more low-key nose than the impressive 2021, well-defined with crushed limestone, Granny Smiths and peach skin aromas. The palate is well-balanced, with a fine bead of acidity counterbalancing the richness. Tensile, quite saline, building gradually towards a very cohesive finish. Refined and sophisticated.Vinous Media | 92-94 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 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 Mont de Milieu 1er Cru has a well-defined bouquet, and the 25% older oak utilized during its élevage is seamlessly integrated. The palate is taut and citrus from the off, quite saline, with grapefruit and melon hints surfacing towards the persistent finish. It coheres very nicely in the glass and has great potential. One of the best examples from this noble vineyard.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

The 2022 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has a complex bouquet with touches of white peach and a muscat-like scent, very focused and seductive. The palate conveys energy and vigor with citrus fruit and hints of orange zest towards the persistent finish. Superb.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

There is just a single 350-liter barrel of the 2021 Puligny-Montrachet les Folatières En la Richards 1er Cru this year. Striking petrichor scents on the nose, this has a stately personality, beautifully focused. The palate is very well balanced with a silver bead of acidity, just the right amount of bitterness with quite a penetrating finish. Will need careful partnering but its oyster shell tinged finish suggests it will go perfectly with fruits de mers.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMAn elegant, pure and cool nose of white flower, mineral reduction and citrus is trimmed in just enough wood to notice. There is a lovely stoniness adding lift to the concentrated middleweight flavors that possess a racy, saline and well-balanced finish. This is also very pretty and most impressive and the only potential nit is that it needs to add depth, though that should occur as the Sauzet Folatières has an excellent track record. Burghound | 92-94 BHThere is virtually no En Richard this year, as the total production after the frost damage was a scant three hundred and fifty liters! That will be less than five hundred bottles. The wine itself is superb, delivering a complex nose of lemon, apple, fresh pineapple, chalky minerality, white lilies, orange zest and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and shows off beautiful mid-palate depth, with fine mineral drive and grip, impeccable balance and a long, complex and classy finish. A beautiful wine in painfully tiny quantities. (Drink between 2026 - 2055)John Gilman | 94 JGA gorgeous clear pale yellow. The bouquet has class and tension as well. A little youthful bitterness, this is a structured Puligny with backbone and medium plus length. Not quite the charm of Champ Canet but very good nonetheless. Energy at the finish. Just a single cask of 350 litres made. Drink from 2027-2032. Tasted: October 2022.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JMAromas of orange oil, freshly baked bread, nutmeg and white flowers introduce the 2021 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières En la Richarde, a medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny wine with lively acids and a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90-92 RP

Boillot waited until 29 September to pick the 2021 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère, producing a mere 18 barrels. Unfurling in the glass with notes of pear, white flowers, hazelnuts, spices and beeswax, it’s medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a chiseled, concentrated profile and a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-94 RPCool, airy and very pretty aromas of the essence of pear, exotic tea, spice and acacia blossom are trimmed in an admirably discreet touch of oak. Much like the Pucelles, the texture of the slightly bigger and more mineral-driven flavors is wonderfully refined and even more powerful on the explosively long, graceful and bone-dry finale. This is also highly recommended.Burghound | 94 BHGuillaume has pulled out the youngest vines, for rootstock reasons. Most of the old vines fortunately are on 3309C. But badly frosted, below 10 hl/ha. A little more yellow in the colour, a riper fruit, which then comes back to its roots on the palate. Sappy, Guillaume says, while there is a generosity in the mouth which has completely retained its balance. Very persistent. Drink from 2026-2032.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMThe 2021 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchère 1er Cru, a Boillot monopole, is bright and nicely focused. This is the parcel that was most affected by frost. Production is 18 barrels as opposed to a more typical 75 or so. There’s good depth and intensity, but also a certain rawness that needs time to soften. This is another wine where acidity is especially prominent. - Antonio GalloniVinous Media | 90-92 VM

A succulent, open-knit white marked by an alluring mix of peach fruit and stony mineral flavors, with yellow plum and citrus notes adding depth as this lingers on the finish. A fresh and focused, sunny version. Drink now through 2028. 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 2018 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru shows a little more definition and terroir expression compared directly with the Montée de Tonnerre. Lemon peel, touches of crushed stone and dried flowers almost reluctantly emerge with aeration. The palate is powerful and expressive, with a honeyed texture...Vinous Media | 92 VMThis is also quite cool with its restrained, airy and more elegant nose that features notes of mineral reduction, oyster shell and white flowers. The racy and beautifully well-delineated middle weight flavors deliver excellent persistence on the clean, notably dry and bracing finale where a hint of bitter lemon appears.Burghound | 90-92 BHThis has attractive peach and peach-kernel aromas with hints of flint and almond pastry. The palate has a very fleshy and succulent feel with apricot, mango and yellow-peach flavors. A steely-mineral spark below. Drink on release.James Suckling | 91-92 JS

Very complex nose of fresh hazelnut, candied citrus, flint and sage, plus a delicate touch of vanilla. Stunning concentration and mid-palate textural complexity for this appellation. Super-mineral and candied-lemon flavors cascade through the very long, crystalline finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2020 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc Elévation 382 Montagne is another fine-boned but intensely flavored wine from Champy. Revealing aromas of pear, crisp green apple, freshly baked bread, lemon zest and hazelnuts, it’s medium-bodied, racy and incisive, with a fleshy core of fruit and a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThe 2020 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc "Montage 382" (previously Elevation 382), matured in 20% new oak with some bâtonnage, is lively on the nose, just a scintilla of menthol here, nicely defined, quite complex compared to its peers. The palate is fresh and vibrant, a fine bead of acidity (pH 3.15) swatting away its core of richness so that it feels powerful, yet effortless and tensile. Superb.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

The 2020 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, one barrel that is an exchange with another producer, had not been racked unlike the other cuvées. It is fragrant on the nose with citrus lemon, lime flower and a touch of wet limestone. The palate is vibrant on the entry with a judicious touch of sour lemon combining nicely with the subtle white peach and ginger elements, the finish quite spicy and persistent. Afford this 4-5 years in bottle before broaching.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

The 2021 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru comes from 2.5-hectares from parcels located from the bottom to the top of the slope, 20% fermented in new oak and aged entirely in wood. It has quite a powerful bouquet; although, I think it would have been a little more sharp with some proportion raised in stainless steel. The palate is well balanced with good weight, a subtle nuttiness on the entry, notes of orange rind and citrus peel; the 2021 is quite linear on the finish and lingers nicely in the mouth. I think this will gain complexity by the time it is bottled next year.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2021 Meursault Le Limozin, matured in a prudent 20% new oak, has a wonderful and expressive nose with just a soupçon of reduction (Parigot was prudent with the SO2 addition). The palate has exquisite balance, beautifully integrated oak, grilled walnut and litchi, superb salinity towards the extended finish - the wine of the vintage from this address.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

A holding of 0.22ha planted in 2004, next to Sauzet, Carillon and Latour-Giraud. This is a very early site, usually where the harvest starts chez Pernot-Belicard. Pale primrose, light toast, one third new wood, giving a crisp edge to the rich white fruit. Plenty of weight here, a little on the powerful side, but long and satisfying. There is a useful little touch of acidity too. Tasted: February 2021.Jasper Morris | 92 JM

The 2020 Chablis Hommage a Louis Grand Cru has an already irresistible bouquet of beautifully defined yellow fruit, limestone, red apple and white peachy aromas. The palate is very harmonious, distinctly saline and quite powerful. The intense, spicy finish lingers in the mouth. This will surely vie with the Valmur for supremacy come bottling. Outstanding.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMAs a result of an ongoing dispute with the INAO—who contend that part of the Droin family’s historic parcel of Les Clos, named as such on the cadastre and always labeled accordingly, is in fact Valmur—the domaine’s Clos is appearing this year as the 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Hommage à Louis. Exhibiting aromas of fresh orchard fruit, peach, honeycomb, toasted nuts and bee pollen, it’s full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with a seamless, multidimensional profile and a long, expansive finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPHere too the fresh, cool and restrained nose is largely dominated by notes of smoky mineral reduction, acacia blossom, citrus rind and soft wood. There is excellent intensity to the admirably pure middleweight plus flavors that exude an inviting salinity on the detailed and hugely long finish that also displays a hint of bitter lemon character. This is also mouthcoating and dense and a wine that should reward extended keeping.Burghound | 94 BH

With close to 6.5 acres in this grand cru, Arnaud Lavantureux treats most of this wine to barrel fermentation, then aging in used oak barrels; a small portion rests in new oak. The barrel time has amped up the wine’s power, its viscosity and smoky scents. But it never goes dark, sustaining a stark contrast of white on white. Complex, feather-light in the end, it keeps coming after you with detail, the way wildflower honey might, only this is completely dry.Wine & Spirits Magazine | 94 W&S

The complex nose of candied citrus, flint, hazelnut and toasty oak leads you into this impressively rich and concentrated dry white for Pernand-Vergelesses. Very focused, super-elegant finish that has so much life. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSAn open-textured white, with apple, almond and baking spice flavors. Leans to the oxidative side, but there’s ample acidity and this actually picks up energy on the finish, turning more minerally and focused. Decant. Drink now through 2028. 500 cases made, 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WSA touch of new wood influence is present on the fresh mix of white and yellow peach, citrus confit and anise hints. The round, rich and enveloping flavors also possess an attractive texture as well as better depth and persistence on the clean and dry finale.Burghound | 91 BH