Type of Wines

wines

The 2023 Montmains is one of my favorite premier crus in the Piuze cellars this year. The wine’s bouquet is pure, precise and complex, offering up notes of lemon, pear, a touch of tangerine, beeswax, spring flowers, lemon peel and a beautiful foundation of chalky minerality. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and deep at the core, with great soil signature and grip, a fine spine of acidity, lovely balance and a long, focused and complex finish. Most impressive. 2028-2055+.John Gilman | 93 JGPatrick Piuze’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains has turned out well, opening from the glass with notes of acacia, pear, peach and youthful reduction. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and tensile, built around a chalky core, it’s laden with bright acidity and concludes with a long, saline finish. It’s produced from a parcel just next to Raveneau’s.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RP

The 2023 vintage of “Vaillons” Les Minots from Patrick Piuze is excellent. The wine’s aromatic constellation offers up a superb blend of fresh lemon, pear, tart orange, chalky soil tones, anise, spring flowers and a topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is deep, zesty, complex and full-bodied, with a succulent core of fruit, superb mineral undertow, bouncy acids and lovely balance on the long and vibrant finish. This will drink beautifully upon release and has the balance to age gracefully for several decades. 2025-2055.John Gilman | 92+ JGDerived from one of the warmest places in the valley, Patrick Piuze’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Les Minots is flamboyant and demonstrative, soaring from the glass with a bouquet of marzipan, peach and dried white flowers mingling with passion fruit. Enveloping and underpinned by racy acids, it’s full-bodied, rich and gourmand and, unsurprisingly, in the context of the warmer site, is among the first that is harvested. While it offers immediate appeal, it has proven to be an age-worthy bottling.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Maltroye 1er Cru has a "buttoned-down" nose that demands coaxing to reveal its yellow fruit, hazelnut and light orange rind scents. The palate is well balanced and opens up wonderfully with aeration, displaying a touch of orange rind, spice and smokiness on the finish. It’s quite mercurial and, to my senses, fascinating.Vinous Media | 92 VM

With aromas and flavors of citrus pith, dried grasses and salted lime, this wine offers palate-filling flavor with a pleasing balance of texture and mouthwatering length. Deftly integrated oak brings additional complexity in good balance. Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEShows wonderful restraint, with mandarin orange, lemon curd, salted melon, Honeycrisp apple and pear notes on a firm texture, plus a hint of beeswax and plenty of length. The acidity keeps the flavors bright. Drink now. 39,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WSNotes of sliced golden apples, candied lemons, citrus blossom and stone. Medium-bodied, sleek and polished with vivid acidity. Pretty and refreshing. Drink now.James Suckling | 90 JS

The 2023 Rosé Château Romassan captivates with a bouquet that mixes savory and sweet, as nuances of D’Anjou pear and lime zest combine with spring flowers, ginger and green melon. This is vividly fruit-focused within, with cooling acidity and silken textures, coming across as lifted and refined yet also potent. Its minerality shines through the finish, crisp, nearly crunchy and long with a spicy tinge that pinches at the palate. Complexity and shear depth make the Chateau Romassan impossible to ignore. - Eric GuidoVinous Media | 92+ VMA reminder of Bandol’s superiority when it comes to rosé. Crushed stone minerality grounds this fresh, alluring version, with notes of dried lavender and salted herbs alongside mandarin acidity. This well-meshed version sings in harmony from start to vibrant finish. Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Grenache. Drink now through 2028. 3,500 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThis illustrates just how different the Mourvèdre-based rosés of this coastal appellation can be, in comparison to rosés from the rest of Provence. Delicately pale salmon pink. Restrained aromas of bruised peach, garrigue and barely ripe apricots. The Mourvèdre shines here with concentration, sour lemon acidity and creamy, ripe, sweet black fruit. There is fine-grained minerality leading to linear austerity and a mouthwatering finish.Decanter | 91 DEC

Mid lemon yellow. Grilled almonds Marjolaine suggests, and I agree. Once more the flesh and the oak on the nose are apparent. All the requisite weight and white fruit, silky length, a little salinity, understated but very long indeed. Rather hidden at the moment. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMThe 2023 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, from vines planted in 1996, had quite a bit of that matchstick reduction on the nose when I tasted it from barrel, but you can discern the concentration here. The palate is well balanced with a slightly honeyed opening. Acidity counters its richness as hints of ginger and white pepper emerge toward the finish. Powerful compared to its peers, this Grand Cru will require two or three years in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet La Romanée 1er Cru is a step up from the En Cailleret, just as I found last year—perhaps because it was cropped at the lowest yield after some of the crop was lost to oidium. Suddenly, more tension and mineralité come through, with touches of petrichor and vibrant citrus fruit. The palate is taut and fresh, with well-integrated oak, commendable depth and a very harmonious finale of peach skin and yellow plum. What a lovely Chassagne this is going to be.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMPale yellow. A little soft oak on the nose. Coconut too on the palate. I would like a little more grip here. Soft pillow of white fruits. Fair acidity at the finish, La Romanée doesn’t quite have the length of finish this year. Drink from 2028-2034. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JM

The 2023 Il Bruciato boasts a dark purple hue and exudes baked aromas of plum, pie spice, balsamic, and rich earth. Full-bodied, the palate is generous and rounded, with supple ripe tannins providing a fleshy sensation through the finish. I would prefer to enjoy this while it retains some freshness over the near term. This vintage is a blend of 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Cabernet Franc, 19% Merlot, and the remainder Syrah and Petit Verdot. 860,000 bottles produced.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDThe Marchesi Antinori 2023 Bolgheri Rosso Guado al Tasso Il Bruciato is an easy blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The 2023 vintage reveals a more powerful and riper character compared to 2022. Baked flavors do come through in this latest vintage with prune and cooked plum. But you also get added sweetness from the barrel aging that imparts dustings of cinnamon and nutmeg. The tannins are soft and accessible.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

The single vineyard bottling of Franclieu from Jean Manciat is his finest terroir, with these thirty to thirty-five year-old vines planted on argilo-calcaire soils. The wine is fermented with native yeasts and raised in stainless steel tanks until bottling. The 2023 Franclieu is a touch lower in octane than the regular Mâcon-Charnay bottling in this vintage, coming in at 13.5 percent alcohol. It delivers a beautifully precise and more soil-defined bouquet of apple, pear, almond, chalky soil tones and a lovely floral topnote redolent of both white lilies and apple blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, zesty and complex, with a beautiful core of pure fruit, excellent mineral drive and grip, a lovely spine of acidity and a long, pure and impeccably balanced finish. This is outstanding Mâcon and more refined and soil-driven in personality than the regular bottling! 2025-2040.John Gilman | 92+ JG

Delicate and floral in the glass, the 2023 Rosé Château de Selle Cru Classé wafts up with a captivating blend of freshly sliced nectarines, minty herbs, peach sorbet and wet stone. This is seamlessly silky and serene, focused on purity, with ripe orchard fruits and candied lime motivated by a core of tantalizing acidity. It’s potent and long, with a spicy flourish of ginger and citrus while leaving a sweet herbal tinge that lingers on and on. The 2023 Château de Selle is simply stunning.Vinous Media | 93 VMBright and vivid nose with strawberries, dried raspberries, cherry blossoms and a light, spicy undertone. Medium-bodied, round-textured and lengthy with lots of energy and a crisp, mineral backbone. Round and textural finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink now.James Suckling | 93 JS

Huia has never been one to make stereotypical Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is no different. Under new ownership but with the winemaking remaining in the hands of former co-owner Clare Allen, the 2023 is a quiet, elegant, aromatically delicate expression. A little more than light in body, it has a rich, succulent and rounded texture, no doubt a combination of the organic vineyards, wild fermentation and use of barrel. Flavors of honeysuckle, ripe apple and lightly toasted hazelnuts linger on the mouthwatering finish.Vinous Media | 92 VM

When you take a sip, the magic happens. The palate is taut and lively, bursting with flavors of juicy strawberries, tart red currants, and blood oranges, all wrapped up with a subtle hint of honeysuckle. It’s like biting into a ripe, sweet strawberry on a summer afternoon! The finish is long and precise, leaving you with lingering mineral and red berry notes that make you want to go back for more.Sokolin Tasting Panel | 92+ SP

It must be difficult being Cloudy Bay, because fame brings extra scrutiny and the question, ‘Does this brand offer value for money in the context of the wider region?’ In 2023, the Sauvignon Blanc silences its critics. Its vineyard may be much larger than it once was, but it delivers – dry, clean and elegant, with classic characteristics and the bonus of welcome structure on the finish. It may not be the most flamboyant on the nose, focusing more on the herbal rather than tropical spectrum (whether that’s elderflower, gooseberry or classic passion fruit), but that seems to be a function of the vintage. The 2023 is long, fragrant and exactly what you want from Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but with an extra layer of class. Vinous Media | 93 VMShows typical guava, grass and flint aromas with some green melon. Medium-bodied with a solid density of fruit as well as brightness and acid energy. Really well done for this vintage. Drink or hold. Screw cap.James Suckling | 93 JS

The 2024 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc leads with a complex nose of sweet pea, cassis bramble, gooseberry, elderflower, preserved citrus and brine. In the mouth, the wine is concentrated and detailed, with fresh energy and zip ensconced in textural folds of phenolics. This is a gorgeous wine and comes highly recommended. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

This wine showcases enticing aromas of ripe stone fruit, summer berries and delicate rose. On the palate, vibrant notes of raspberry and ripe cherry bring warm, sun-kissed flavors, complemented by balanced acidity and a satisfying weight. Best enjoyed between 2025 and 2028.Sokolin Tasting Panel | 92+ SP

A well-rounded, focused and delicious rosé showing dried raspberries, frozen strawberries and mild spices on the nose. Medium-bodied with bright acidity. Balanced and driven, with a lively center palate and a persistent, flavorful finish. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JS

The 2024 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc leads with juniper and cassis, green apples and lemon zest. In the mouth, the wine has a quinine-like freshness and intensity, shaped by pliable phenolics through the middle palate and finish. This is a really classy wine here. It’s sophisticated. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPCut grass, passion fruit and river stones on the nose. The palate is light-bodied with focused acidity, giving notes of orange blossoms, jasmine and lemon peel. Polished and tightly wound. Drink now. Screw cap.James Suckling | 91 JS

Meet the summer’s next showstopper! This bone-dry beauty in the iconic blue bottle is bursting with a rush of sea-breeze minerality, keeping things edgy, crisp and oh-so refreshing. You will be swept away by the lively bouquet of sun ripened strawberries, juicy nectarines, honeydew melon, and a zing of orange zest-all lifted by a bright, mineral sparkle that only gets bolder as you swirl. An impressively long, silky finish that lingers with a wave of mineral freshness and just a whisper of lavender. Sokolin Tasting Panel | 93+ SP

This Rosé is a rich earthy expression with lots of peach aroma to back up its stoniness. The full bodied palate has fantastic minerality and an everlasting white pepper finish.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEA poised, tangy and charming rosé with aromas of nectarines, almond powder and sweet spices. Medium-bodied with a delicious mid-palate. Juicy fruit mingles with the spices and onto the tangy, mouthwatering finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink now.James Suckling | 90 JS

You’ll probably know the Miraval name because of its celebrity owners: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought the Provence estate in 2011. But behind the starry names is a range of rather good wines, perfect for summer drinking. This blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Rolle and Syrah delivers fresh strawberry and grapefruit zest aromas. Fresh, crisp and mineral, with silky red berry fruit, this is far too easy to drink... Enjoy!Decanter Magazine | 92 DEC

Lemony richness on the nose, a struck match character that falls in with lemon vanilla note. Toffee apple allure on the palate with chalky coolness & savoury nutty finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2025.Decanter | 94 DECToasty and generous with lemon freshness, this also has quite some dried-pear and peach aromas from mature elements of the blend, plus a touch of spice at the long, structured finish. The cuvée is based on 2015 and is 50% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay and 20% pinot meunier. Reserve wines make up more than one third of the blend. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JS(roughly 50% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay and 20% pinot meunier; Lot 14009913): Light gold. Musky orchard fruits and dried fig on the mineral-accented nose. Fleshy and broad on the palate, offering smoky pear and nectarine flavors and a hint of honey. Finishes on a gently spicy note, with very good cling and a touch of bitter lemon pith. Things have definitely begun to turn around for this bottling, which had been lagging behind the winery’s vintage offerings for some time.Vinous Media | 90 VMThis fresh and balanced Champagne is lightly toasty, with snappy acidity and a lively, creamy mousse carrying flavors of white cherry, pickled ginger and Marcona almond. Offers saline-laced minerality.Wine Spectator | 90 WSOne of the most popular of all Champagnes, this is now showing a freshness that wasn’t always there. The crisp texture and green-apple flavors give it an immediate drinkability as well as perfumed acidity and a vibrant aftertaste. Drink this bottling now.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WEBrisk lemon-lime flavors and floral apple clarity lend this wine its freshness and mineral-tinged refreshment. It smells like chalk, then the flavors are enriched by toasty brioche and spiciness from the lees aging. Simple and saturated, finely made in a grand-marque style.Wine & Spirits | 90 W&S

The NV Champagne Brut Rose is an attractive pale salmon hue, with a fresh perfume of wild strawberry, ripe peach, white and red flowers, a hint of tropical fruit, and grapefruit. The palate is rounded, with fruit up front and through the mid-palate, and it has a silky and fresh lift. There is a wonderful ease and drinkability to this wine, which delivers balance and finesse. Drink 2022-2037.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDA lovely rosé in an almost vinous style, with mouthwatering acidity and a fine, lacy mousse carrying appealing flavors of ripe raspberry, white cherry fruit, star anise, mandarin orange peel and honeysuckle. Lightly chalky on the lasting finish. Enjoy with food. Drink now through 2020.Wine Spectator | 93 WSAttractive salmon color with aromas of dried strawberries and lemons, as well as hints of flowers. Full-bodied with tight tension from the fine phenolics that run through the palate. Hints of white pepper, peaches and sliced green strawberries with some candied lemons, too. Always an excellent bottle. 40% chardonnay, 30% pinot noir and 30% pinot meunier. Drink now.James Suckling | 93 JSWe started with a demi-bouteille of Billecart-Salmon Rosé: a safe option, but it does the job, even though I would say that a full bottle is better.Vinous Media | 92 VM(NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV (Disgorged September 2013)) Billecart-Salmon is probably most famous for their excellent bottling of non-vintage Brut Rosé, and the new bottling is another superb wine. The cépages is comprised of forty percent chardonnay, twenty percent pinot meunier and thirty-five percent pinot noir, with eight percent of the pinot noir included as still wine to give this wine its lovely, pale salmon color. The dosage is slightly higher here, but still judicious at nine grams per liter. The bouquet is pure and vibrant, wafting from the glass in a mix of tangerine, almonds, smoke, lovely minerality, wheat toast and dried flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very focused, with a fine core, racy, zesty acids and great cut and grip on the long and beautifully balanced finish. (Drink between 2014-2025)John Gilman | 92 JGThe palest of rosés, this is an elegant, structured wine. Its dryness is balanced by the fine apple and red-currant fruits and the strong sense of minerality. Fragrant and lightly structured, this fine bottling is ready to drink. Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEBased on the 2018 vintage, Billecart’s new NV Brut Rosé incorporates 40% reserve wines and some 6% still red wine. Bursting with scents of sweet red berries, peonies, stone fruits, white cherries, freshly baked bread and spices, it’s medium to full-bodied, pillowy and charming, with a seamless and enveloping core of fruit and a lively, fine-boned profile.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPCurrently based on the 2016 harvest, this is floral and citrussy, showing a lithe, graceful balance. It’s a blend of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Meunier, with about 40% of reserve wine, and red wine accounts for 7% of the blend. Its delicate, subtly expansive flavours of raspberry and strawberry are enlivened by a tangerine-like acidity, and while it feels ripe and full in flavour on the palate, it never loses its sense of refinement and poise, finishing with detailed length and depth. (Drink between 2021-2026)Decanter | 91 DEC

The NV Mirabelle Brut Rose has a pale cherry-pink color and scents of green melon, citrus blossoms and creamy undertones with stony wafts. The palate is rounded and floral with fragrant flavors, energetic mousse and a long, flavorful finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPDelicate and pretty, with expressive orange blossom and strawberry flavors laced with brioche and spiced nuts. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now. 16,790 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

An attractive red-fruit flavored Champagne with a balanced crisp textured, this bottling is just ready to go. Its fruitiness coupled with the soft texture from the dosage are packed with fruitiness and ripe acidity. Drink now.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEThe latest release of Henriot’s NV Brut Rosé has turned out very nicely, wafting from the glass with delicate aromas of nectarine, mandarin and wheat toast. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly fleshy and precise, with racy acids and filigree tannic structure, this is a pretty, fine-boned rosé that will be extremely versatile.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPA vivacious rosé Champagne, with flavors of pink grapefruit, pickled ginger and chalky mineral driven by racy acidity, this is sleek and linear, silky in texture through to the mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2023. 1,200 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WSThis plays in the nectarine and peach stone fruit zone, and is gently infused with strawberry and raspberry, too. Handy poise at the finish. Smooth resolve. Drink now.James Suckling | 91 JS(NV Henriot Brut Rosé NV (Reims)) The new release of Henriot’s non-vintage Brut Rosé is a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay, with the exact cépages not given, but probably about fifty-five percent pinot and forty-five percent chardonnay. The wine is quite lovely, offering up an elegant bouquet of strawberries, tangerine, chalky minerality, fresh-baked bread and a topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, focused and nicely deep at the core, with refined mousse, bright acids and lovely focus and grip on the long and complex finish. This is really quite tasty. (Drink between 2019-2040)John Gilman | 91 JGThe 2002 Brut Rosé (54% Pinot Noir, 46% Chardonnay) is a very pretty wine, with much sweetness and clarity in its fruit. This is fairly deep, rich style of rosé. Today the wine remains quite primary, but there seems to be enough depth to ensure at least a few years of very rewarding drinking. It is one of the finest wines I have tasted recently from Henriot. This is Lot: 0709011206, disgorged December 11th, 2006.Antonio Galloni | 90 AG(NV Henriot Brut - Rosé Rosé) This is very lightly hued, indeed it requires more than a casual look to confirm that it’s a rosé. There is a trace of reduction and while it’s not really intrusive, it does slightly suppress the softly fruity and citrusy nose where a subtle yeast character eventually surfaces. The exuberant middle weight flavors are supported by a very firm mousse along with better depth on the nicely lingering finish. Like the Blanc de Blancs cuvée, this is not particularly refined but it’s satisfying in its fashion. (Drink starting 2020)Burghound | 90 BHRed grapes account for 60 percent of this blend, predominantly pinot noir, the balance chardonnay. The color is a pale rose-gold, while scents of rose petals and pink grapefruit further the delicate red-fruit impression. Simple, balanced and accessible, this offers touches of sweetness to balance the rasp of its chalky acidityWine & Spirits | 90 W&S