Chardonnay Wines

wines

Rich candied-citrus nose, but none of the exotic-fruit character that some wines of the vintage have. Stacks of stony minerality on the palate enable it to carry all the flesh easily. Very clean finish with excellent energy and vitality. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 91 JS

The 2020 Chablis Mont de Milieu 1er Cru has a more powerful bouquet than its peers with scents of orange blossom, Nashi pear and an underlying gunflint note trying to surface. The palate is well balanced with orange rind and a touch of peach skin on the entry. Very poised and harmonious with impressive volume, I admire its tension and persistence on the saline finish. This will not require much bottle maturation, yet it has the substance to last 15-20 years. Excellent. Tasted blind at the BIVB tasting in Chablis.Vinous Media | 93 VM

Moderate reduction again pushes the underlying fruit to the background though there is outstanding freshness and verve on the palate of the medium-bodied flavors that retain lovely delineation on the moderately dry, youthfully austere and complex finale. Very solid quality here.Burghound | 91-93 BH

The 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Champgains wafts from the glass with aromas of pear, orange oil, confit lemon and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, layered and open-knit, it’s a fleshy, charming wine that’s giving but lively.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPMore complex aromas consist of rosemary oil, pretty pear essence and whiffs of citrus confit. The utterly delicious and caressing medium-bodied flavors are rich to the point of opulence while coating the palate on the focused and lingering finale. This is very good and particularly so considering the young vines.Burghound | 91 BH

Fine pale lemon and lime. What a beautifully gracious nose, this is sheer class. All in white fruit with an engaging ripeness, more detail than Combettes, perhaps more weight than Folatières. Quite muscular for Pucelles. An explosion of fruit on the palate, almost too much to take in but there is nothing vulgar here, just the quintessence of Pucelles. Very long indeed, this is really just a babe in arms. Tasted: May 2022.Jasper Morris | 96-97 JMProminent notes of honeysuckle, Granny Smith apples, spice and a plenitude of spice elements are similarly wonderfully fresh and bright. The rich, delicious and succulent medium-bodied flavors also possess a highly sophisticated mouthfeel along with ample punch on the finely detailed, focused and hugely long finish. This too is a wine of class and grace that should age effortlessly over the next 12 to 15 years. A stunner of a Pucelles.Burghound | 93-96 BHA smooth white, bordering on creamy but with bright acidity, featuring lemon cake, apple tart, mineral, vanilla and clove flavors. Features a fillip of bitterness, like grapefruit peel, on the spicy finish. Youthful and exuberant. Best from 2025 through 2032. 985 cases made, 197 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles unwinds in the glass with aromas of pear, peach and green apple mingled with white flowers, freshly baked bread and baking spices. Medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a layered, charming mid-palate and a precise finish, it’s a charming, seamless wine in the making.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2020 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 1er Cru conveys the imprimatur of the growing season more than Leflaive’s other cuvées, the ripest and perhaps more exotic with candied orange peel, quince and light peppermint scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine acidity, ripe and quite bold in style, though it clams up towards its slightly reductive finish. Give this four to five years in bottle.Vinous Media | 93 VM

The 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux Vieilles Vignes will be bottled later than usual, as Michel was still waiting on the delivery of glass bottles when I visited—but extra time on the fine lees certainly won’t do it any harm. Exhibiting aromas of pear, white flowers, freshly baked bread, confit citrus and iodine, it’s medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, with terrific depth and tension. It’s a close race between this and Michel’s Vaulorent this year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RP

A striking young wine, Dauvissat’s brilliant 2020 Chablis 1er Cru La Forest unfurls in the glass with aromas of crisp orchard fruit, orange oil, pear, oyster shell, freshly baked bread and smoke, framed by a deft touch of reduction. Medium to full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, it’s taut and concentrated, with racy acids, chalky structuring and a long, searingly mineral finish. Recent years have delivered so many brilliant renditions of La Forest that it’s hard to pick a favorite between the likes of 2008, 2014, 2017 and 2019, but the 2020 is certainly a worthy entrant into the competition, and it’s worth a special effort to seek out.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RP(Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis "La Forest" 1er Cru White) A highly complex nose combines notes of citrus rind, sea breeze, petrol and shellfish. There is excellent size, weight and intensity to the more robust and muscular if less refined flavors that brim with dry extract before terminating in a mineral-driven and bone-dry but not really austere finale. I very much like the balance, and this should also age gracefully yet it’s not so structured that it couldn’t be approached after 5-ish years if desired. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 92-94 BH(Chablis “la Forest”- Domaine Vincent Dauvissat) The 2020 la Forest from Vincent Dauvissat is truly outstanding this year and reminds me very much of the great potential I saw when I first tasted vintages like 1985 and 1990 here, which also were so classically-cut out of the blocks. The superb aromatic constellation delivers scents of apple, pear, lemon, a beautiful base of chalky minerality, paraffin, vanillin oak and a lovely floral topnote that shares a mix of white lilies and lime blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and full-bodied, with impeccable focus and grip, a lovely core of fruit, outstanding soil undertow and a long, zesty and finish that closes with snappy acids and a complex, seamless finish. A classic in the making. (Drink between 2026-2065)John Gilman | 94+ JGThe 2020 Chablis Fôrets 1er Cru is backward on the nose, the most stubborn and recalcitrant of Dauvissat’s Premier Crus despite rigorous coaxing. The powerful palate is linear, like the Montée de Tonnerre, but displays a little more puissance toward the finish. But, maybe, the Montée has more charm. We will see.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

Bordering on viscous, this white is embedded with peach, crème brûlée, clove and oyster shell flavors. Molten and well-balanced, this builds nicely to the lingering conclusion, with toast and baking spice flavors extending on the aftertaste. Drink now through 2030. 25 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Séchet is brilliant, mingling aromas of crisp green apple and lemon oil with notions of oyster shell, freshly baked bread, white flowers and wet stones. Medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, it’s racy and tensile, with tangy acids and a long, searingly mineral finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPPure, poised and dry with delightful nuance. This is a classic Séchet with a superb aftertaste, so much fruit to cover the dry bones typical of this vineyard – and indeed implied by its name. The 2020 is immaculately balanced pure and subtly nuanced. It may easily close down for a few years after bottling, so do not be afraid to keep it back. Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted: June 2022.Jasper Morris | 94 JMThe 2020 Chablis Les Séchets 1er Cru is very pure on the nose, though not quite as mineral-driven as the 2019, that I tasted last year (also from barrel). But the aromatics are very elegant. Ditto the palate, which delivers fine acidity, impressive concentration, white peach and dried mango flavors and plenty of spice toward the finish. Excellent.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThe 2020 Chablis “Séchet” from Vincent Dauvissat is very refined this year, showing the classical proportions of the vintage to very fine effect. It delivers an aromatic constellation of green apple, lemon, a beautiful base of chalky soil and oyster shell, spring flowers and a lovely topnote of beeswax. Pure, full and racy on the palate, the Séchet shows off exemplary depth at the core, excellent focus and cut and an impeccably balanced, but still quite closed personality on the long finish. This is going to be an outstanding bottle, but it will demand just a bit of patience to allow it to properly blossom. (Drink between 2026 - 2060)John Gilman | 93 JGMore elegant and airier aromas include those of citrus blossom, algae, iodine and a touch of green apple. The detailed and very intense medium-bodied flavors flash both good minerality and salinity on the balanced bitter lemon-inflected finale. This promising if decidedly firm effort is firm enough to reward up to a decade of cellaring.Burghound | 92 BH

As is almost invariably the case, Dauvissat’s 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons is sensual and perfumed, wafting from the glass with aromas of orange oil, peach, jasmine and nutmeg. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it’s vibrant and fleshy, with an ample core of fruit, racy acids and a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2020 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru is more floral on the nose compared to the preceding Les Séchets. White flowers, dandelion and touches of orange zest develop in the glass, precise and finessed. The palate is structured with good grip and a slightly waxy texture, building beautifully toward a very persistent finish. Give this 2–3 years in bottle (at least).Vinous Media | 91-93 VM(Chablis “Vaillons”- Domaine Vincent Dauvissat) The 2020 Vaillons from Monsieur Dauvissat is just as beautifully structured out of the blocks as the Séchet, sharing that same classical sense of balance and reserve, so it too will deserve just a few years of hibernation in the cellar before starting to drink with generosity. But, the potential here is enormous, as the wine offers up a fine bouquet of apple, pear, chalky minerality, white lilies, citrus peel and just a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, precise and full, with a rock solid core, beautiful acidity and mineral drive, impeccable balance and a long, focused and nascently complex finish. (Drink between 2026-2060)John Gilman | 93+ JG

A cool and airy nose is less exotic than it usually is though there is a trace of it on the ripe white and yellow fruit suffused aromas. Once again there is both good density and power to the medium weight flavors that also possess an abundance of sappy dry extract along with plenty of salinity on the moderately structured, complex and sneaky lengthy finish.Burghound | 92 BH

An elegant, pure and beautifully layered nose is comprised by notes of white orchard fruit, ocean breeze, quinine and a whiff of the exotic. There is really lovely intensity to the caressing but well-detailed middle weight flavors that conclude in a refreshing and inviting finish that evidences plenty of salinity. Beauroy is rarely this good so color me impressed.Burghound | 90-93 BHThe 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy is a charming, pretty wine, bursting with aromas of sweet white flowers, honeycomb, oyster shells and crisp stone fruit. Medium to full-bodied, ample and precise, with a satiny attack and a saline finish, it’s a particular success this year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThere’s quite a bit of spice here although the palate is restrained and with good concentration. Less showy, a wine built for the long haul, this is classy and will age very well. From three parcels in Beauroy. No battonage, 25-30% in wood and 16-17 months maturation.Decanter | 92 DECThe 2020 Beauroy from Domaine Fèvre is a fine bottle in the making. This is a warmer microclimate and Didier noted that they picked this very early, “to keep the freshness in the wine.” The team has succeeded nicely in this, as the wine jumps from the glass in a lovely blend of lemon, pear, chalky soil tones, white flowers and a touch of upper register paraffin. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and nicely balanced, with a good core, lovely transparency and grip and a long, zesty and complex finish. Good juice. (Drink between 2026 - 2055)John Gilman | 92 JGPale lime colour. Some spice on the nose, just kept the tension going on the palate, an easy access Chablis 1er cru, well made, but as always I think you get more by trading up.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JM

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 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

Here’s a very typical Meursault that combines the generosity and textural complexity we expect from this appellation, with liveliness that makes it very satisfying. Good concentration. A ton of flinty character at the substantial finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JSLuscious and well-delineated, too, this white offers lemon oil, sliced apple and clove flavors, with an underlying mineral element. Long and will benefit from an additional year in bottle. Best from 2023 through 2029. 2,500 cases made, 750 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WSSmoky reduction dominates the underlying fruit today. By contrast, there is good freshness and verve to the notably rich, round and rather plump medium-bodied flavors that display reasonably good length if only average depth on the bitter lemon-inflected and youthfully austere finale.Burghound | 89-91 BHThe 2020 Meursault 1er Cru Château de Blagny offers up aromas of crisp Anjou pear, white flowers, green apple and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, round and rich, it’s a gourmand, textural white from this higher-altitude site.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RP

This silky, vibrant white is all about texture and harmony, showcasing peach, melon, apple and lemon fruit underscored by a subtle minerality. Seamless from start to finish, ending in a long, citrusy and stony aftertaste. Drink now through 2028. 120 cases made, 48 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSFrom a parcel that seems to do especially well in warm vintages, perhaps because the vines are planted east to west, so its grapes are never exposed to direct sunlight, Piuze’s 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Les Roncières wafts from the glass with aromas of pear, freshly baked bread, white currants, beeswax and pastry cream. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and racy, with bright acids and a charming core of fruit, it concludes with a long, mineral finish. Drink Date2025 - 2045 Robert Parker The Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2020 Chablis Les Roncières 1er Cru, taken directly from barrel, demonstrates impressive complexity on the nose, which features lemon curd, hazelnut and crushed stone aromas. The harmonious palate is well balanced with fine acidity, poise, and tension toward the saline finish. This is very promising.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM(Chablis “Les Roncières”- Domaine Patrick Piuze) The 2020 les Roncières chez Piuze is another outstanding premier cru in the making. The wine delivers a fine aromatic combination of lemon, apple, limestone soil tones, spring flowers, paraffin and a touch of oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with fine purity of fruit at the core, lovely soil definition and grip, bright, bouncy acids and lovely focus on the long, well-balanced and complex finish. Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2025-2060)John Gilman | 93+ JG(Maison Patrick Piuze Chablis "Roncières" 1er Cru White) Here the nose is again firmly reduced though there is both good freshness and verve to the medium weight flavors that also flash good minerality on the clean, dry and compact finish that will likely need at least a few years to fully unwind and 5 to 8 years to realize its full potential. (Drink starting 2026)Burghound | 89-91 BH

Patrick’s 2020 Butteaux is utterly classic in personality and superb in potential quality. The nose jumps from the glass in a refined blend of apple, pear, a complex base of chalky soil tones, paraffin, fruit blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and shows of gorgeous fruit at the core, with excellent soil undertow, bright, zesty acids, fine focus and grip and a long, perfectly balanced and complex finish. Great juice. 2025-2060.John Gilman, A View from the Cellar | 94 JGThe 2020 Chablis Les Butteaux 1er Cru had received a bit of SO2 a couple of days before my visit. For that reason, it is a little muted on the nose, opening gradually to reveal yellow flower scents. The well-balanced palate offers grapefruit and melon notes, a fine bead of acidity and good weight on the finish. It does need to cohere in the glass, but this has good potential.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM(Maison Patrick Piuze Chablis "Butteaux" 1er Cru White) A very Chablis-like nose features notes of mineral reduction, pear, apple, shellfish and a plethora of citrus elements. The succulent and round yet decidedly powerful medium-bodied flavors exhibit borderline painful intensity before culminating in a very dry, firm and austere finale. Patience strongly suggested. (Drink starting 2027)Burghound | 90-92 BHDelivers peach, apple and citrus flavors tinged by mineral and the slightest hint of vanilla. Balanced, remaining long and present on the pastry-inflected finish. Drink now through 2026. 392 cases made, 127 cases imported. Wine Spectator | 91 WS

One of the highlights of the range is the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent, a medium to full-bodied, taut and concentrated wine evocative of pear, citrus oil, smoke, oyster shell and freshly baked bread. Chiseled and incisive, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP(Chablis “Vaulorent”- Domaine Patrick Piuze) The 2020 Vaulorent from Patrick Piuze is outstanding. The bouquet is pure, precise and complex, wafting from the glass in a suave mix of apple, pear, chalky minerality, a touch of raw almond, white lilies, beeswax and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and nicely reserved in personality, with a full-bodied format, a lovely core of fruit, excellent soil signature and a long, nascently complex and vibrant finish. This wine has beautiful grip and purity and all it needs is some time in the cellar to properly blossom. (Drink between 2028-2070)John Gilman | 94 JG(Maison Patrick Piuze Chablis "Vaulorent" 1er Cru White) An expressive nose combines aromas of white flowers, anise, tea, oyster shell and whiffs of ocean breeze. There is better volume if not quite the same degree of refinement on the punchy, saline and sneaky long finale. This firm effort is lovely with a Zen-like sense of poise. (Drink starting 2028)Burghound | 90-93 BHThe 2020 Chablis Vaulorent 1er Cru was showing a bit of reduction on the nose when I tasted it directly from barrel. Moving straight on to the palate, there is crisp citrus fruit, lemon curd, touches of frangipane and plenty of spice toward the back end. A tang of stem ginger lingers on the aftertaste. This is a fine Vaulorent but it will need time in bottle.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMThis supple white is highlighted by apple, melon and green plum flavors, with accents of mineral and vanilla adding detail. Balanced and crisp, finishing on the bracing side. Drink now through 2026. 248 cases made, 73 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Aromas of stone fruits, citrus zest, toasted nuts and smoke introduce the 2020 Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru La Pièce Sous Le Bois, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and lively wine that’s bright and mineral, concluding with a saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPA background hint of smoke is present on the cool and fresh citrus-suffused aromas of mostly apple and pear that exhibit a floral top note. The moderately voluminous medium-bodied flavors possess a caressing mouthfeel while exuding a subtle bead of minerality on the dry, lemony and sneaky long finale. This too could easily be enjoyed after only 2 to 3 years of bottle aging.Burghound | 90 BH

From vines purchased in 2011, towards the Truffière side of the vineyard. Pale lemon and lime. The bouquet is quite discreet though with some finesse. The oak shows much less here, and the fruit builds quite attractively towards the back of the palate. Some fresh but ripe citrus notes nicely integrated. Persistent. Tasted: November 2021.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JM