Chardonnay Wines

wines

The 2020 Chablis Blanchot Grand Cru is quite backward on the nose, unfolding to display touches of cold wet limestone and shucked oysters, yet always discreet; this a Grand Cru that does not want to brag. The palate is well balanced with a tangy, quite concentrated entry, fine weight, and good density toward the finish, even if I am not convinced that it will become Droin’s most complex 2020 in the end. We’ll see.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMAn overtly floral nose is comprised by vaguely exotic aromas of lychee, citrus blossom, iodine and ocean breeze. There is outstanding intensity to the beautifully well-detailed larger-scaled flavors that brim with both minerality and dry extract that buffers the moderately firm acid spine shaping the slightly more complex and impressively persistent finish. Very sold quality here.Burghound | 92-94 BHA little more of a lemon tint to the colour. Concentrated white flowers on the nose but too sunny to be edelweiss, and the fruit rapidly takes over. A faint suggestion of banana, we feel the heat behind, but it all retains its balance. Not quite coherent yet, but with time to establish its balance.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JS

The 2020 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru has an almost clinical bouquet, wonderfully defined, with superb salinity and mineralité. The focused palate is citric and tensile, and the salinity gets the saliva flowing. Classic Chablis through and through. This will be an exceptional Vaudésir.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMBright clean fresh colour, the bouquet is concentrated but chiselled and backward. Crisp, concentrated pure white fruit, very Vaudésir, with excellent persistence. Finesse and class to finish Jasper Morris | 93-95 JMThe 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir is charming and enveloping, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp peach, pear, hazelnut, clear honey, white flowers and beeswax. Full-bodied, layered and satiny, with racy acids and a sensual, charming profile, it concludes with a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThis is also aromatically cool and very pretty with its vaguely exotic array of white and yellow fruit, broad range of spice elements and good Chablis typicity, all trimmed in oak hints. The wood influence also is present on the caressing and refined but decidedly intense flavors that culminate in a bone-dry finale. This is a somewhat atypical Vaudésir in that it’s less refined and more powerful than usual even though it’s still very promising.Burghound | 93 BH

Piuze’s 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is a powerful, muscular wine, mingling notions of orange and mandarin with toasted nuts, dried white flowers and iodine in an incipiently complex bouquet. Full-bodied, broad and layered, with notable structuring dry extract and a long, resonant finish, it’s quintessential Les Clos.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

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 2020 les Clos from Domaine Piuze is simply stunning. The nose delivers a kaleidoscopic blend of lemon, tart orange, pear, oyster shell, limestone minerality, paraffin, white flowers and a touch of new oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and again, shows stunning depth at the core, with great focus and grip, snappy acids, stunning backend mineral drive and a long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. Simply brilliant juice! (Drink between 2030 - 2080)John Gilman | 97 JGThe 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is a deep and powerful wine, evocative of orange oil, ripe pear, white flowers, freshly baked bread and nutmeg. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, it’s broad-shouldered and concentrated, with lively acids and a long, mandarin-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPHere too there is a citrus confit character to the more floral suffused aromas of oyster shell, quinine and brine. There is again very good volume to the sappy and powerful larger-scaled flavors that terminate in a lemony, austere and highly persistent finish that isn’t quite as complex, at least not yet.Burghound | 91-94 BHThe 2020 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru is very reduced on the nose, although there seems to be good concentration here and Piuze commented that this is nothing unusual. The palate is well balanced, quite primal, rich and slightly honeyed, leading to a powerful finish where I am just seeking a little more delineation. Let’s see how this turns out in bottle.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMRich, featuring peach, melon, earth and stone flavors. Shows an underlying steeliness, despite the generous profile, with fine balance and length. Drink now through 2025. 94 cases made, 25 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

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

A blend from Le Charlemagne and Mourottes, picked and pressed together. There is a lovely pale green thread running through the lemon colour. The nose is agreeably chiselled, with a real wealth of fruit backed by the stony minerals. It is showing a bit of oak at the moment. Pierre-François is hoping in future to be able to age this for longer. A very good example.Jasper Morris | 95 JM

Made from two plots, one each in Pernand and Ladoix, but just two barrels this year instead of eight. Pale lemon and lime. A more reductive nose with a little oaky note, one new barrel in the two. Will take some time for the fruit to push past that. Plenty of fruit volume though and the style is typical of the appellation. White fruit, lemons, a little banana note, and a stony finish. Indeed plenty of weight at the finish. Drink from 2026-2032.Jasper Morris | 93 JM

Ex Laleure Piot. Pale lemon and lime. This is very different from the Pierre Meurgey label Corton-Charlemagne, though the plots are next door and picked on the same day. This version is much less exotic in aromatics, much more chiselled, and is actually very fine with youthful mineral bitters. Long salient steely finish. A Corton-Charlemagne success this year, with the wood perfectly integrated. Tasted: October 2021.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMA dense and lively white, evoking lemon and apple core flavors wrapped in toasty oak. Smooth, picking up generous baking spices as this winds down on the long citrus- and oak spice-inflected aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2035. 104 cases made, 40 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSDomaine Clos de la Chapelle’s Corton-Charlemagne has become one of my favorites on the hill of Corton. The 2020 vintage here is exceptional, offering up a deep and youthful nose of apple, pear, raw almond, a hint of crème patissière, a beautiful base of chalky soil tones, apple blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and pure, with a superb core, great mineral drive and cut, lovely acids and a long, focused and perfectly balanced finish. This comes in listed at 13.5 percent octane and is a fairly ripe example of this bottling, in the style of the vintage, but with impeccable typicité and potential for long-term cellaring. Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2022 - 2055)John Gilman | 94+ JGA subtle but not invisible application of wood surrounds the aromas of just sliced green apple, mineral reduction and a similar array of citrus elements. There is first-rate intensity to the broad-shouldered and powerful flavors that deliver excellent length on the stony, clean and very dry but not especially austere finale. Like the Sous Frétille, this could use better depth but in this case, more will also certainly develop in time.Burghound | 93 BH

TOP QUALITY PRODUCER Brocard’s 7 Lieux Grand Cru Preuses is a magnificent wine in the making. Although there is plenty of ripeness on display this regal grand cru is cool, crisp and supremely elegant. An aristocratic feel here, with great focus and lingering minerality to finish. From Domaine Brocard vines, all the components are in place to allow this to develop glacially for 15-20 years.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2021 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru is curiously just a little innocuous on the nose at the moment. I wonder if this might be going through a dumb phase? The palate is harmonious on the entry with orange peel and light peachy nose, slightly honeyed in texture, and it captures the spiciness that I seek from Les Preuses. Maybe not quite the length that you would obtain from a top vintage, but a finely made Chablis.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis is also quite aromatically elegant with its array of green fruit, cool citrus, wet stone and spice. The medium-weight flavors are at once seductive yet powerful with solid volume while coating the palate on the clean, dry and lingering finish that is borderline simple. This has the stuffing to age and improve up to a decade so more depth should reasonably develop if given a few years.Burghound | 90-92 BH

The 2021 Chablis Valmur Grand Cru offers more intensity and precision than the Vaudésir, the wood giving weight but beautifully assimilated, shucked oyster shells emerging. The palate is well balanced with a slightly honeyed opening, notes of lemon curd and orange pith, building nicely in the mouth towards a suave and lightly spiced finish. Superb.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMOnce again moderate wood is present on the spicy aromas of green fruit and oyster shell-inflected nose. The rich, powerful and broad-shouldered flavors possess a borderline creamy mid-palate texture while exhibiting outstanding length on the sappy and saline finish. Very promising.Burghound | 92-94 BHFrom a site of just over 1ha, Valmur is a colder site giving, as Dron says, a more masculine. Cool, closed on the nose, this will need a lot of time to open up. Oak is a little more apparent here, with very precise acidity. Very linear at the minute, a grand cru with a nose of white flowers, and a palate of great purity. This will need three to four years to open and will be hitting its stride in seven to eight.Decanter | 93 DEC

Here too moderate wood sets off the overtly spicy and ripe aromas of white and yellow peach, iodine and hints of seashore. The sleek, delicious and intense flavors are just a bit more refined, indeed they are almost delicate, while still delivering excellent length on the citrus-tinged finish where a bit of wood slowly emerges.Burghound | 91-94 BHThe 2021 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru has a taut and fresh bouquet, wonderful mineralité with a hint of smoke and flint coming through. The palate is well balanced with a saline note, fine depth, lemon and a little more lime. Builds nicely in the mouth, a lovely Vaudésir.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMDroin’s Vaudésir comes from just over 1ha with vines planted on both north- and south-facing slopes. A little subdued on the nose and palate, this is a subtle grand cru with plenty of definition, and will blossom with two to three years additional bottle age. No oak.Decanter | 92 DEC

TOP QUALITY PRODUCER Weighty, profound and rich, this is a stunning Les Clos which has an extra level of depth and richness that would please many a Côte-d’Or fan. White flowers on the nose, spice and stone fruit on the palate with 40% oak and a lingering, freshening mineral undertow. A grand cru with gravitas that will drink for 15-20 years. Droin has 1.4ha with vine age averaging 40 years. Its plots are located in various sectors of the cru with some lower down in the western sector, and part on the blue clay soils on the mid-slope.Decanter | 96 DECLike the Grenouilles, there is enough wood to merit mentioning but not enough to overshadow the cool, airy and very fresh aromas of oyster shell, white flower and ocean breeze. The succulent yet powerful and delineated flavors brim with both minerality and dry extract, all wrapped in a driving bitter lemon-inflected and youthfully austere finale. This is a lovely combination of power and refinement that should amply repay a decade plus of cellaring.Burghound | 92-95 BHThe 2021 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru has a clean and precise bouquet, flint and chalk filtering through the citrus fruit, gaining intensity as it opens in the glass, though I feel the Grenouilles has more sophistication. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very harmonious, nicely poised with a dab of stem ginger and white pepper towards the finish that is resolutely classic in style. Very fine.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

Given all of the fireworks in this tasting from the Montée de Tonnerre upwards, I was wondering if the 2021 les Clos could somehow acquit itself impeccably, given how stunning the lineup had been up until this point. It does not disappoint! The aromatic constellation here is complex and precise, offering up scents of green apple, lime, grapefruit, flinty minerality, citrus peel, dried flowers and gentle smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is beautifully complex, well balanced and poised, with a full-bodied format, great depth at the core, brisk acids and laser-like focus on the long and stunning finish. (Drink between 2028-2065). John Gilman | 96 JGThe 2021 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru comes from 4.1 hectares mainly located on the upper sector of the Grand Cru, the vines planted in the postwar period by Maurice Fèvre, the father of William Fèvre. It has a powerful bouquet with hints of white flower permeating the citrus fruit and apple blossom aromas. The palate has wonderful salinity on the entry, a fine bead of acidity, citrus-fresh with clementine, hints of peach and a twist of bitter lemon that keeps the finish on its tippy-toes. Great potential.Vinous Media | 93-95 VM

The 2021 Chablis Bougros Grand Cru comes from southwest facing parcels (Fèvre almost half the holdings in this Grand Cru) has a very marine-influenced bouquet with touches of granite and a light smoky note. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, nicely focused with a touch of quince complementing the citrus fruit, though I am just seeking a little more mineralité to come through on the final third.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMFevre’s Bougros covers around 50% of the whole Bougros climat. With it’s westerly location in the grand cru, Bougros is often a warmer site and once can taste the sweetness to the fruit here, beautifully balanced by 2021’s acidity. Although not the weightiest, showiest or most concentrated grand cru, there is lots to like, with notes of grapefruit, a touch of citrus zest and excellent acidity. With good volume in the mouth, this finishes very fresh. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2034Decanter | 92 DEC

The 2021 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru comes from 2.5-hectares split over two parcels. This has one of my favourite aromatics from Fèvre this year with superb delineation and mineralité. The palate is harmonious and poised, very focused and tensile, plenty of energy with a touch of lime and clementine towards the persistent finish. This is an outstanding Chablis that should age supremely well in bottle.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMOne of the domaine’s standout wines, this immediately strikes you with its precision and clarity. Fevre’s vines are from two different sites, with varying expositions - one lower down and facing south-east, the other high on the plateau. Great elegance with plenty of weight and concentration on the palate, full and fleshy. Grapefruit notes to the fore but plenty of mineral/saline notes on the long, persistent finish. A delicious, aristocratic grand cru. Fevre owns 2.5ha within Les Preuses. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2038Decanter | 95 DEC

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

15 hl/ha despite the best efforts of a wine turbine and bonfire which I saw in action at 4.30a.m. on a cold snowy morning. Pale colour, backward nose, white flowers perhaps. This has a fine balanced fruit, actually sweeter and riper, then oakier behind, with an attractive mineral thread. Needs a little freshening, which will happen before bottling Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted: October 2022.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JMA more restrained nose grudgingly reflects its aromas of strong petrol and mineral reduction with background hints of citrus zest and oak. There is fine mid-palate density to the tautly muscular broad-shouldered flavors that also exude evident minerality on the tightly coiled, lingering and balanced finale. This could use better depth so like the En Caradeux, at least a few years of keeping should prove beneficial.Burghound | 92 BH

The very steep aspect of Côte Bouguerots is highlighted by a much greater emphasis on minerality than Fevre’s Bougros. This is a grand cru is every way - so much drive on the palate with plenty of extract, concentration, salinity and length. Certain to keep very well but this is also surprisingly approachable early on. DIdier Seguier says it’s likely to close down after 18-24 months but this is clearly a fine example with masses of potential.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2022 Chablis Bougros Côte Bouguerots Grand Cru has a clean and precise bouquet with hints of wild peach, apricot blossom, Mirabelle and crushed stone. The palate is well-balanced with a very harmonious entry, blackcurrant leaf and spice, crushed stone and what feels like plenty of extract on the finish. This has great potential, but afford it time in your cellar.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMThis is the coolest and most restrained of this group of 2022s with its elegant aromas of prominent mineral reduction, lemon-lime, spice and oyster shell. There is almost painful intensity to the intensely stony and strikingly well-detailed larger-bodied yet still beautifully refined flavors that display huge length on the impeccably well-balanced finale. Like the Preuses, this is very classy and built to repay extended keeping.Burghound | 93-95 BH

Small yield, very concentrated, with masses of density on the palate. Plenty of drive and energy but has finesse to balance out the power. White peach fruit characters, vibrant acidity and a pronounced mineral, salty finish. Very long future ahead. Fèvre owns 4.1ha of the 25ha total within Les Clos. Its plots situated on the top of the hill, with 50% of the vines planted by William Fèvre’s father in the 1940s and 1950s.Decanter | 95 DECThis is aromatically quite similar to the Côte Bouguerots but with more floral influence. The rich, big-bodied and tautly muscular flavors are also seemingly chiseled from Kimmeridgian, all wrapped in a wonderfully persistent, very dry, balanced and stony finale. This is also extremely impressive and equally built to repay extended cellaring.Burghound | 93-95 BHThe 2022 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru has a surprisingly primal bouquet with gooseberry, melon, fruits de mer and citrus peel, with more oyster shell scents developing as it opens, though never quite achieving the flair of the Valmur. The palate is well-balanced, steely and strict, with fine intensity and a saline finish. But it doesn’t quite have the precision of Fevre’s best cuvées at the moment.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

Patrick Piuze’s 2020 les Preuses is every bit as beautiful as the les Clos in this vintage and I would like nothing more than to have the chance to compare the two side by side ten or twenty years down the road! The bouquet here is utterly classical in profile, delivering scents of lemon, pear, beeswax, a multi-faceted foundation of limestone minerality, spring flowers, vanillin oak and a bit of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and precise, with a great core, a stunning mineral bath on the backend, zesty acids and laser-like focus on the very, very long, complex and seamless finish. Pure magic. (Drink between 2030 - 2080)John Gilman | 97 JGThe 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses wafts from the glass with aromas of oyster shell, citrus oil, crisp green apple, white currants and freshly baked bread, framed by a deft touch of reduction. Medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, it’s taut and incisive, with a layered core of fruit, racy acids and a long, intensely mineral finish. It’s worth a special effort to seek out.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPAn elegant, pure and quite airy nose freely reveals its combination of white flowers, essence of poached pear, anise, mineral reduction and shellfish. The delicious and more refined if less powerful flavors possess a Zen-like sense of harmony on the mineral-driven, balanced and beautifully long finale. This will need to develop more depth with time in bottle but that is one of the strong points of a fine Preuses - it almost always develops well.Burghound | 92-95 BHThe 2020 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru is a little more expressive and delineated on the nose compared to the Les Clos at this stage, offering yellow plums mixed with light spicy scents and a touch of smoke. The palate is well balanced, wonderfully defined and powerful, but much more elegant than the Les Clos, with a gorgeous apricot-tinged finish and a peppery aftertaste. Superb.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMOpen in feel, yet there’s an inner tension that emerges as this builds to a long, mouthwatering finish. Balanced and lengthy, featuring prevalent apple, lemon, herb and stone flavors. Drink now through 2026. 110 cases made, 34 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

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

Features a beautiful fragrance of lemon, lanolin, vanilla and toasty oak, with an underlying minerally vein. This is lively and changes across the palate, building to a precise, minerally finish. Shows terrific complexity and clarity. Best from 2022 through 2032.Wine Spectator | 95 WSOnly just beginning to open up, this is a very sophisticated white Burgundy with great elegance and a sleeker body than many wines of this category. Excellent concentration, married to a cool and fresh personality, the intense mineral character driving the very long and pure finish. From vineyards under conversion to organic cultivation. Better from 2021.James Suckling | 94-95 JSSold under the generic Champy brand but from a domaine-owned parcel of 0.5ha on the Pernand-Vergelesses side of the appellation, This is a wine that’s all about freshness and precision rather than power, showing chalky crunch and bite, alluring jasmine aromas, a leesy texture and subtle wood, 25% new.Decanter | 94 DECHere too there is a moderate dollop of wood framing the cool green apple, citrus rind, mineral reduction and lychee nut scents. There is good punch to the tautly muscular if not especially dense middle weight flavors that exude evident minerality on the firm, clean and dry finale. Like several of the wines in the range, this needs to develop more depth but given the underlying structure, this has the legs in which to do so. (Drink starting 2027)Burghound | 92 BH