Shop Wine

wines

A cool, late-harvest site relative to Aubert’s other sources, the 2020 Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons also sees a bit less new French oak (50%). Readers will note that the oak made virtually no impression on me, as the wine bursts with aromas of ripe, honeyed melon, balanced by bright lime notes. Full-bodied, creamy and lush on the palate, this is just a pleasure to drink, finishing long and zesty.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThis stunning version opens with a rich impression, with candied ginger, marmalade and honeyed overtones to the core of fresh fruit flavors, including notes of pear, apple, melon and citrus. Hints of orange blossoms and minerality mingle with fresh acidity, while a nutmeg-dominant wave of spices gain momentum on the long finish. Drink now through 2033. 1,538 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSA big and juicy white with cooked apple, pear, honey, and mineral. Flint. Full and layered with a flavorful and delicious finish. Drink now.James Suckling | 96 JS

The 2020 Chardonnay Adrianna Vineyard White Stones from Gualtallary, Uco Valley, was barrel-aged for 16 months. Greenish-yellow in the glass. The intense, layered nose presents bold aromas of green apple, pear, hints of linden blossom and ginger with touches of lemon and herbs. In the mouth, it’s concentrated, rooted in a lively, heightened freshness while maintaining the variety’s expansive flow, which also delivers salinity and long-lasting flavor. A thrilling white that defines this nook of the Uco Valley.Vinous Media | 97 VMLemon zest, pineapple, white pepper, cloves, jasmine, crushed stones and chalk on the nose. Medium-bodied, focused and phenolic. Very fine, mineral and tight with persistent energy and vivid acidity. Creamy, with salted-almond notes at the end. Drink from 2023.James Suckling | 97 JSI had the opportunity to taste two vintages (2020 and 2021) of the top whites side by side and could see the differences of the two years quite clearly, as the wines express the natural conditions of the year quite faithfully. The 2020 White Stones Chardonnay is riper than the other three wines; it’s a very good wine, but it shows the warmer year with a rounder mouthfeel, faintly creamy, still a little closed in the nose, which slowly reveals yellow fruit and some spice. The palate is quite gentle, with 13% alcohol and very good balance. 7,500 bottles produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPCatena Zapata was founded in 1902, with a focus on high altitude plantings in Mendoza. Its famed Adrianna vineyard sits above 1,450m, ensuring a quality crop with good acid retention as a result of the cool night-time temperatures. The wine is 100% Chardonnay from a small selection of vines on stony, free-draining soils with a topsoil of oval-shaped white stones. Fermented in French oak, the wine also goes through partial malolactic fermentation before ageing 12-16 months in seasoned French oak barrels with batonnage throughout. Amanda Barnes: Great purity and wet stone character. Vibrant acidity and great tension on the finish. Ben Gubbins MW: Fresh, light and vibrant with red apple skin, lemon, good intensity and tension. Dirceu Vianna Junior MW: Graceful and attractive with lovely aromas of citrus fruits, yellow plum, star fruit, fresh dough and hints of sweet spices. Refined, silky texture and beautiful underlining freshness. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2032Decanter | 95 DECRestrained and elegant, with floral citrus and melon flavors and powerful minerality adding texture and expanding its presence. Ends with spicy details and hints of cream. Drink now through 2026. 540 cases made, 200 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

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

A dense, creamy DC white with lots of rich cooked-apple, mineral, cream and praline character. It’s full and very layered with chewy intensity and a long, bitter-lemon and almost honey finish. Pretty phenolic tension, too.James Suckling | 96-97 JSThis classic white wine reveals impressive potential as it unfolds. Along with its enveloping white fruits and crisp citrus it also has a wrought texture that will push it forward for the long term. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEAnother terrific vintage for this wine, the 2020 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc unwinds in the glass with aromas of nectarine, pear, nutmeg, passionflower and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless, with racy acids and a bright, pure profile, it nips at the heels of the brilliant and somewhat racier, more refined 2019.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPA very young, powerful, coiled-up white, with verbena, mirabelle plum, quinine, gooseberry gelée and fleur de sel notes weaving together. The long finish has a flash of bitter almond but keeps a nice nervy feel, with an underlying mineral hint. One to cellar a bit and let unwind. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Best from 2024 through 2029.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2020 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc marries power and tension so well. Lemon confit marzipan, chamomile, dried orchard fruit and crushed flowers all build effortlessly into the expansive, beautifully resonant finish. Above all else, the Blanc is a wine of savory/mineral complexity and structure. I wouldn’t dream of touching a bottle anytime soon. Tasted two times.Vinous Media | 95 VMRipe melon, honeyed mint, and dried herb notes all emerge from the 2020 Domaine De Chevalier Blanc, a medium-bodied, rich, concentrated, yet tight and backward white built for the cellar. Mostly Sauvignon yet with a good chunk of Semillon, this balanced, focused, incredibly impressive dry white needs 3-5 years of bottle age and, I suspect, will evolve for 15+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDRound with a soft medicinal, herbal element and toasted spice framing the lemon, lime, elderflower, pear and peach fruit with a core of salty, wet stones. Bitter, sweet and acidic - all the elements melding together harmoniously with an appealing weight. I like the overall sleek and crisp expression, feels well worked and well structured. A great buy.Decanter | 95 DEC

(Chablis “Bougros”- Domaine Patrick Piuze) Bougros can sometimes be a bit more fruit-driven in personality out of the blocks than most other grand crus, but this is most emphatically not the case with Patrick Piuze’s version in 2020. The aromatic constellation is precise and minerally in personality, offering up scents of apple, pear, beeswax, a hint of crème patissière, citrus peel, oyster hell minerality, vanillin oak and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and defined by its underlying soil, with a lovely core of perfectly ripe fruit, a fine girdle of acidity, lovely focus and grip and a long, nascently complex and beautifully balanced finish. (Drink between 2028-2080)John Gilman | 95 JGThe 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Bougros is ample and generous, wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, honeycomb, beeswax, white flowers and freshly baked bread. Full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's fleshy and enveloping, with a racy spine of acidity and a long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2020 Chablis Bougros Grand Cru has a well defined bouquet that offers fine mineralité and terroir expression, wet limestone and light smoky scents coming through. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, veins of desiccated orange peel and mandarin, a little pepper and even a hint of rhubarb toward the finish. A wonderful Bougros.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMA rich, open-knit white, hallmarked by floral, yellow plum and peach aromas and flavors. Glides across the palate, ending with peach, spice and stony length. Drink now through 2027.Wine Spectator | 91 WS(Maison Patrick Piuze Chablis - Bougros Grand Cru White) Restrained if dense aromas are composed by notes of green fruit, oyster shell and lemon zest. The sleek, intense and delicious middle weight flavors are not quite as concentrated nor are they are refined but they do offer fine depth and persistence. This built-to-age effort should be approachable after only 4 to 5 years but reward a decade plus of cellaring. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 91-93 BH

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

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 nose of the 2020 Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille is layered with fresh and citrus tones, with lime blossom, white flowers, and lemon pith. The mouthfeel is stony and has more tension while still having a classic viscous feel.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDExquisite, with a generous, fleshy core of ripe peach and apricot flavors, which mingle effortlessly with salted butter notes of fresh pastry, lemon blossom and clipped herbs. The frame is silky and smooth, with fresh acidity weaving in and out, keeping the flavors fresh and focused. Drink now through 2030. 1,636 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2020 Chardonnay Ma Belle Fille comes across as quite tight and mineral, with hints of pencil shavings and toasted almond accenting pineapple and lime. Medium to full-bodied, with ample richness and generosity, it finishes long and lean, with a mouthwatering edge to the citrus flavors.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPVery floral and foresty on the nose, with bark, green pine needle, lemon curd and dried apple. Perfumed. Medium-bodied, dense center-palate. Flinty and spicy. Some blanched almond. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JS

Floral, non-fruity hints of crushed stone and talcum powder appear on the nose of Aubert’s 2021 Chardonnay Powder House, creating an attractive counterpoint to the wine’s honeyed richness and intense white-peach notes. Full-bodied and silky in feel, it’s a bit custardy in texture yet lithe, graceful and long, with an almost mentholated finish. There are 2,000 cases this vintage, from a Forestville vineyard planted in 2015 mainly to Hyde Old Wente, plus a bit of Mount Eden.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPLove the aromas of lemon-lime, gunpowder, kiwi, and dried lemons. It’s full, phenolic and solid. This is like red wine in structure. Long and persistent. One for the cellar. Give this some time. Best after 2025.James Suckling | 97 JSThe 2021 Chardonnay Powder House is elegant, polished and also a touch reticent. That won’t be an issue in time, but the Powder House is decidedly reticent today. Strong mineral accents are front and center, while the fruit feels pushed into the background. Mark Aubert’s Chardonnays have historically aged quite well. I expect that will be the case here as well.Vinous Media | 94-96 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

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 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

Fevre’s Vaulorent is just a little more precise on the nose. Seguier says it is always elegant, always fresh. Fevre’s take on this renowned premier cru has an understated nose yet you can feel the power within. Lovely ripeness of fruit, but all in a very compact package at the moment. Although this is disarmingly approachable now, this will be a wine to cellar carefully, allowing all the perfectly formed components to blossom.Decanter | 95 DECA much less expressive nose, indeed it is all but mute, requires aggressive swirling to eventually coax aromas of white orchard fruit, citrus blossom and seawater. The richer and slightly more powerful flavors also possess a sophisticated mouthfeel along with excellent depth and persistence on the balanced finale where a touch of youthful austerity slowly emerges. In a word, terrific.Burghound | 92-94 BHThe 2021 Chablis Vaulorent 1er Cru comes from 3.60-hectares, of course, the only Premier Cru on the same incline as the Grand Crus. The soils here are very marn. It has an energetic petrichor, slightly fumé bouquet that is very well focused. The palate is well balanced, taut and fresh with fine acidity, lemon verbena and citrus peel emerging towards the finish. Delightful, though the Montée de Tonnerre has just a little more harmony.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

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

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

Beautiful mix of richness, grace and drive. As always with Fèvre’s Les Preuses, this is elegant, long-living and fine. Ultra-stylish and very mineral. From two sections of vines. One situated low down on Les Preuses next to Vincent Dauvissat’s plot, on the flatter part facing south, the other on deeper soils, with both adding richness and totalling 2.5ha.Decanter | 96 DECA toasty nose features notes of smoky grilled shellfish, pear and algae. The dense and equally serious larger-scaled flavors don’t have quite the same power yet they are clearly more refined on the markedly bitter citrus zest finish that displays outstanding length. This is exceptionally classy and while it too could use more depth, that is all but assured if given a chance.Burghound | 92-95 BHSuch a fresh lime infused colour. The bouquet shows the soft creamy riches that you can find here in Les Preuses. There is plenty of bulk but the hectare plot which drops down into Vaudésir gives the mineral tension. A little lime and lemon coats the tongue at the finish. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted: June 2023.Jasper Morris | 93-95 JMThe 2022 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru is not unlike the Valmur on the nose: backward and a little sultry in style, with faint touches of crustacea coming through. The palate is more generous with orchard fruit, hints of apricot and wild peach, and fine acidity. It is very harmonious but without quite the same complexity as the Valmur on the finish. Still, this should give many years of drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM