Cote de Beaune Wines

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The 2010 Volnay Champans 1er Cru is an exquisite wine that in my opinion surpasses the Taillepieds served alongside. It is just beginning to show a little bricking on the rim. The bouquet is fresh and vibrant with raspberry, potpourri and loamy scents - just so vivid and bright. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of red berry fruit, slightly tart in style with superb tension and fine acidity. Cranberry and raspberry spring through towards the finish that displays impressive tension. This is maturing beautifully. Tasted an the annual Marquis d’Angerville tasting in London.Vinous Media | 95 VMThe 2010 Volnay Champans wafts from the glass with an ethereal, nearly weightless personality that is hard to describe. There is plenty of length and sensuality, but in a suspended state that seems to hover above the palate. The Champans is delicate, feminine and flat-out beautiful. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPLovely, scented ripe strawberry and raspberry nose. Spicy richness on the palate, delicious intensity, ripe and chewy with new oak blended in. Complex and seductive, with fine, structured tannins, excellent length and a mineral finish. For the long term.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECInitially there is a touch of reduction though aggressive swirling liberates the admirably pure, fresh and elegant nose of a plenitude of floral notes along with a ripe mix of red berries and iron, stone and earth hints. There is good power and excellent complexity to the wonderfully well-delineated medium weight flavors that possess fine phenolic ripeness and superb energy on the focused, linear and stunningly long and saline-infused finish. This is a seriously impressive effort that is built to age.Burghound | 94 BHThe malo for the Champans had finished up six weeks before my visit and the wine was showing very well indeed. The bouquet is deep, complex and very sappy, as it jumps from the glass in a beautiful mélange of pomegranate, cherries, blood orange, coffee, peonies, lovely soil tones, fresh herbs and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very elegant (particularly for a young Champans), with very good focus and balance, refined tannins and excellent length and grip on the tangy and nuanced finish. Good juice. (Drink between 2020-2060)John Gilman | 93 JGA combination of cherry and berry fruit with sweet spice notes highlights this elegant, linear red. Balanced and sleek, offering a lingering aftertaste of fruit, spice and savory mineral accents. Best from 2016 through 2032. 200 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Aromas of citrus zest, ripe pears, fresh bread and vine blossom introduce the 2019 Meursault Narvaux, a medium to full-bodied, rich and layered wine that’s concentrated and incisive, exemplifying the vintage-typical alliance between ripeness and acidity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

Bright and expressive, featuring cherry, blackberry, smoke, sandalwood, earth and vanilla flavors. Vibrant and elegant, though firm on the finish now, offering finesse and terrific length. Best from 2025 through 2042. 60 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

This is aromatically similar to the Bressandes though as is typically the case, there are more spice elements in play along with a variety of floral nuances. There is also a bit more mid-palate density to the vibrant and tautly muscular flavors that flash good minerality on the balanced, long and mildly austere finale. This too is a lovely combination of refinement and power.Burghound | 92-94 BH

A powerful and ripe Meursault with plenty of Mirabelle plums filling out the generous medium- to full-bodied palate. Attractive interplay of creaminess, fine tannins and freshness. Matured in small oak barrels, of which one third were new. Very limited production. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JSThe 2022 Meursault Santenots 1er Cru has a complex nose: yellow fruit, spice box, touches of fennel and crushed stone, all coming through with aeration. The palate is very well-balanced with good weight - a lovely creamy texture whilst retaining tension. More open than other cuvées and persistent in the mouth, this is a well-crafted and delicious Meursault.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMAll from Les Santenots Blanc. A lime and lemon colour, some charm to the nose along with the energy. Rather a pretty expression of fruit, then a little more flesh behind, well integrated with the oak. A supple rounded Meursault with still a sense of refinement. Drink from 2027-2033. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JMThere is enough wood present to merit pointing out surrounding the ripe aromas of primarily pear compote and citrus confit. The sleek, intense and solidly voluminous flavors possess an interesting hint of sweetness on the lingering finish that could use a bit better depth. With that said, this is sufficiently tightly wound to repay 6 to as much as 10 years of cellaring which should prove beneficial.Burghound | 90 BH

Bottled in late July. Pale lemon colour. A pure and fresh bouquet, mostly white fruit. Particularly stony this year behind a raft of white apple fruit, plenty of energy, starting to soften at the back. Middleweight plus, quite attractive. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 92 JM

This opulent style starts out supple before chalky tannins take hold of its cherry, blackberry, earth and mineral flavors. Muscular, solid and dry, this lingers, offering a fruit- and oak spice–filled finish. Best from 2027 through 2045. 411 cases made, 15 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis had just been bottled shortly before my visit and, unsurprisingly, was displaying some reduction. More interesting are the rich, caressing and delicious medium-bodied flavors that are noticeably finer while exhibiting excellent power, focus, balance and length on the bitter pit fruit-inflected finish. This is textbook Bressandes.Burghound | 93 BH

The 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vergers 1er Cru has more intensity and tension than the Chenevottes, greater mineralité coming through with aeration. The palate is taut and sapid, with satisfying mid-palate weight and a grippy finish boding well for bottle maturation. One to watch.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

This village-level appellation enjoys a prime position just underneath the premier crus Perrières. In 2022, the grapes delivered a charming wine with forward aromas of lemon peel, flint and flowers. The texture is fresh and lively, and there is considerable extract that draws it out to an impressive finish, particularly for a village wine. The grapes are from 1.17 hectares at the northern edge of the climat; they are crushed and firmly pressed before fermenting in cask (15% new) to produce this delicious wine.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Nosroyes has a similar reduction to the Les Levrons, focused and perhaps even more concentrated. The palate is well-balanced with impressive depth. There’s not quite the mineralité of a Premier Cru, but ample concentration with a lively, spicy finish. Delicious.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMPale lemon in colour. The bouquet is open and expressive, slightly more in fresh orchard fruit than floral, but with a pleasing elegance. There is just a little more intensity on the palate, with a racy fresh fruit quality and good length. A little fuller bodied all the way through, and keeps on going. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JM

This delightful wine is among the liveliest of the vintage from village-level Meursault. They boast a bright lemon peel and nectarine fruit with hints of white flowers, smoke, and an undercurrent of salty minerality. The texture is clean and fresh, with the acidity carrying the wine to a lingering finish. The grapes are from the older vines in the lieu-dit Perchots, just north of En La Barre. The combination of old vines and used casks has produced a wine of great purity of fruit.Decanter Magazine | 93 DEC

Aromas of honeyed orchard fruits, buttery pastry, peaches, toasted nuts and spices introduce the 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Marquis de Laguiche, a medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny wine that’s rich, glossy and unctuous, with all the fat and texture typical of this bottling.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPPicked between 2nd and 5th September. A very pretty clean lemon and lime. The oak is very well integrated into the classy nose. Plenty of energy but also light on its feet for Morgeot without betraying the appellation, and the fruit persists particularly well on the palate. Drink from 2030-2037. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JMThe 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru (Marquis de Laguiche), picked September 2 to 5, has a delineated bouquet with apple blossom, peach skin and light honeysuckle aromas that bloom in the glass. The palate is well-balanced with good substance and a better acidic spine than the preceding Meursault Genevrières. There is commendable weight and depth on the finish. Drink over the next 12 to 15 years.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis is also quite floral in style with its aromas of petrol, white orchard fruit and discreet hint of rosemary oil, all of which is trimmed in much more subtle wood treatment. There is more volume and power to the bigger-bodied flavors that are rich to the point of opulence while delivering fine length. This isn’t refined but it doesn’t lack for body and character.Burghound | 91-93 BH

This bottling includes the younger Haute Densité planting, as well as the old vines from 1946 and 1970. Overall half is at normal spacing and half at double. The marly soil here remains cool, and does not keep the water. Very stylish in bouquet, ripe yet with precision. A greener touch behind with crystalline acidity. Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 93 JMThe 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Tremblots includes the younger vines in the high-density section of the vineyard. It has a crisp, well-defined nose with petrichor and oyster shell scents, the latter becoming stronger with aeration. The palate is well balanced and mineral-driven, with that oyster shell element defining the finish. This is excellent.Vinous Media | 91 VMThe 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Tremblots includes the young vines from Lamy’s high density plantings (at 20,000 vines per hectare) to the tune of some 50%. Offering up a gently reductive bouquet of pear, bread dough and white flowers, it’s medium-bodied, taut and electric out of the gates.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90+ RPA cooler and not quite as ripe nose reflects notes of green apple, spice, acacia blossom and lemon confit. There is good vibrancy to the noticeably finer medium weight flavors that exhibit excellent length on the bone-dry and youthfully austere finale. This is already complex though it’s sufficiently tightly wound to need at least a few years of patience.Burghound | 90 BH

The 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte 1er Cru has a crisp and precise bouquet, very focused with seamlessly integrated oak, crushed limestone and petrichor scents percolating through the yellow fruit. The palate is very well-balanced, with a slightly honeyed opening. It’s one of the richer cuvées by taste, though analytically, it has very good acidity and 13% alcohol. Fans out wonderfully on the finish. Excellent.Vinous Media | 93 VMAn expressive nose freely offers up its array of various white orchard fruit, petrol and rosemary oil scents. Here too there is good volume to the medium-bodied and fleshy flavors that also coat the palate with dry extract on the clean, dry and lingering finish. This needs better depth but that should reasonably occur with a few years of cellaring.Burghound | 91 BH

Laurent Lignier has farmed a quarter-hectare of village Volnay since the 2020 vintage, split evenly between the rocky Ez Blanches at the top of the slope above the Clos des Chênes and Ez Echarts with deeper clay soils below Roncerets. The combination is delightful, with violet-scented blackberry fruit, firm tannic grip and rewarding density. The grapes are partly destemmed and given a cold soak before fermentation with a combination of punching down and pumping over. They will be bottled in the spring without fining or filtration.Decanter | 93 DECThis is also presently quite firmly reduced and unreadable in this condition. The relatively finely textured middleweight flavors also possess a succulent mid-palate that contrasts somewhat with the moderately austere and lingering if noticeably warm finish that isn’t subtle.Burghound | 87-90 BH

A fluid version, exhibiting apple, lemon and baking spice flavors, plus a hint of the sea. Though compact, this is resonant and propelled by vivid acidity through the intense, well-delineated finish. Offers fine balance and length. Best from 2027 through 2035. 300 cases made, 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux 1er Cru is more understated but more complex than the Hameau, with fine delineation and crushed stone infusing malic scents. The palate is well balanced with a twist of sour lemon on the entry, tensile and focused with a precise and quite persistent finish. This is a well-crafted Puligny that will give a decade’s drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 92 VM

The 2023 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is the richest, broadest wine in the range, bursting with aromas of honeyed pears, white flowers, freshly baked bread and beeswax. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it’s layered and textural, with a sweet core of fruit that’s balanced by good energy and grip.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

The 2023 Meursault 1er Cru Les Cras is pretty, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, confit lemon, orange zest and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, mineral and chalky, with a sweet core of fruit girdled by bright acids, it’s pure and precise.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPHere too there is a suggestion of the exotic to the aromas of white peach, tangerine, mineral reduction and once again, a hint of phenolic character. This medium weight flavors aren’t quite as dense though they are just a bit finer while offering fine length and an almost palpable sense of minerality on the balanced and youthfully austere finish that, interestingly enough given that this is a premier cru, isn’t quite as structured.Burghound | 91 BH

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Fairendes is showing especially well, revealing aromas of pear and crisp white peach mingled with hints of matchstick, toasted nuts and flowers. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it’s unctuous and elegant, with terrific purity and a penetrating finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RP5 barrels are kept separate from the Morgeot blend. Pale colour, attractive energy to this, more upper slope class than the Morgeot mix. A wealth of fruit across the palate, generous and charming together, with energy behind. A complete white fruit wine that is worth taking time over. Drink from 2028-2034. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 93 JMThis is even more floral-suffused with notes of acacia, white rose and gardenia adding breadth to the ripe yet cool aromas of pear, apple and crushed fennel. The rich, generously proportioned and solidly powerful larger-bodied flavors manage to remain nicely refined on the sappy and palate staining finish. This is also worth checking out.Burghound | 92 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

A wine to seek out. Racy and very fine, the grapes come from the very top of the slope, and offer forward aromas of lime peel and gooseberry with a flinty, mineral edge. Marvellous acidity and great depth of flavour on the palate, along with a pleasantly silky texture. Although this will be attractive when bottled, it can also be aged.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECGrapes from less vigorous plants, situated on the limestone upper hillside. Very pale, stones in whitewash on the nose. Classy and classical, with an extra kick of fresh white fruit and lemon acidity at the finish. Persistent, more my style of wine. More nuanced at the finish. Drink from 2027-2031. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet 1er Cru showed more reduction on the nose, yet there is clearly a lot of intensity here. It’s slightly more resinous than its peers, containing touches of melted candle wax and lanolin. The palate is well balanced and poised, with a keen silver thread of acidity and real energy building toward an assertive and complex finish. It is far superior to the 2022 when I tasted it last year. This is superb.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMA fine mid lemon colour. Discretion continues to be the Sauzet watchword. The Champ Canet has the ideal balance between the concentration of white fruit flesh, acidity, nuance and length. The fruit ripples over a bed of minerals. Very compelling. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMVery firm reduction is such that the lightly wooded nose reveals nothing today. By contrast, there is good verve to the delicious and attractively textured flavors that aren’t quite as dense as those of the Truff but, also somewhat unusually, they do display more minerality on the bitter lemon zest-inflected finale.Burghound | 90-93 BH

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet les Referts 1er Cru shows a little more ripeness and tropical traits than other cuvées from Sauzet. Its bouquet features notes of pineapple, nectarine and citrus peel, yet there remains delineation and mineralité that upholds a sense of Puligny-Montrachet. The palate is well balanced and weighty in the mouth, but I admire the tension and poise. It gradually builds toward the harmonious and subtle spice on the finish. Give this time.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMA slighter fuller lemon and lime colour. The bouquet suggests greater density of fruit. A light lick of oak which suits the more clay-based wines. Excellent energy, the oak backing up the fresh vigour of the fruit, and a well-balanced finish. Not the ripest, but quite powerful. Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JMPungent aromas of moderate reduction and wood toast prevent an assessment of the nose. More interesting are the succulent, round and caressing middle weight flavors that possess solid volume and power that seems to build on the compact, sappy and well-balanced finale. Fine development potential here.Burghound | 91-93 BH

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet “Boudriotte” from Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard is not quite as buttoned up behind its structure as the lovely la Grande Montagne, but it too is going to need a couple of years in the cellar before drinking in earnest. The wine offers up a lovely bouquet of apple, lime, wet stone minerality, a touch of almond, vanillin oak and a Ramonet-like hint of peppermint in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep. full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with a fine core, lovely acids and grip and a long, well balanced and zesty finish. Fine juice. (Drink between 2029-2060)John Gilman | 93 JGThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte 1er Cru comes from lower down the slope. It has a taut and fresh bouquet—a little austere at first—but gradually reveals its energy. The palate is well balanced with a brisk, edgy opening and citrus-fresh orange zest notes toward the penetrating finish. This has great potential. I can imagine it marrying perfectly with fruits de mer.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis is also quite firmly reduced though here too there is both good freshness and vibrancy to the slightly bigger-bodied and more powerful, if less mineral-driven, flavors that also offer acceptable depth and persistence though here, the finish isn’t as awkward. Again, I attribute the slight lack of harmony to the very recent bottling.Burghound | 91 BH

I drink Chassagne “Caillerets” so seldom these days, but there was a time when I was a wine merchant that I probably drank wines from this beautiful premier cru more often than any other in the Côte de Beaune. So, I am always delighted to taste a great example, as is the 2023 from the Fontaine family. The wine is young and still a touch reductive on the nose, but with swirling reveals a beautiful bouquet of lime, pear, apple, a gorgeously complex base of chalky minerality, a hint of fresh almond, spring flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure, full-bodied and mineral-driven, with a great core of fruit, superb girdle of acidity, laser-like focus and a very long, complex and racy finish. This wine has perfect balance. (Drink between 2030-2070)John Gilman | 95 JGThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets 1er Cru has a very harmonious bouquet, fine mineralité and terroir expression and touches of oyster shell infusing the citrus fruit. The palate is well balanced with a rounded texture. There’s a fine silver bead of acidity here, a little richer in style, fanning out marvelously on the finish. This is excellent.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMSmoky and vaguely exotic aromas include those of white peach, passion fruit, citrus confit and a hint of wet stone. There is evident minerality to the delicious middle weight flavors that possess a lovely texture before delivering excellent length on the balanced finale that, once again, could use better depth. One to consider. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 92 BH