White Wines

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The 2014 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard is rich, flavorful and deeply expressive. Orchard fruit, mint, sweet spices and butter notes meld together in a creamy, beautifully layered Chardonnay endowed with marvelous texture. This is an especially racy, almost flamboyant wine from Gavin Chanin. The Los Alamos is usually a bit more reserved, but in 2014 it is very much on the extroverted side of things. Chanin told me the 2014 Los Alamos (at 14.5% alcohol) is the ripest wine he has ever made.Antonio Galloni | 94 AGLight but tropical notes touch on the fluffy nose of this bottling, with papaya-laced marshmallow, pineapple meringue, lemon curd and a sea salt caramel touch. Chamomile, yellow apple skins, yellow flowers, tight mango and lots of saltiness show on the mouth-watering sip. The buttery character grows as it warms up, but it’s delicious in all temperatures.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThere are 26 barrels of the 2014 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard. It’s a terrific Chardonnay that’s from sandy and calcareous soils and spent 12 months in 30% new French oak. Offering lots of buttered orchard fruits, cream corn, white flowers and hints of brioche and oak, it’s medium to full-bodied, nicely textured and rich, with a supple, soft, ready to go feel.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

One of the most distinctive wines in the range, 2014 Chardonnay Dupratt Vineyard is a wine of phenolic intensity and power. Savory herbs, chamomile, mint and crushed rocks are pushed forward, while the fruit lies more in the background. The flavors are remarkably vivid. This is a gorgeous, nuanced Chardonnay from Copain.Antonio Galloni | 94 AGNo written review provided. | 90 W&S

A layered, fruity chardonnay with creamy, polished tannins, showing beautiful ripe-apple and lemon undertones, as well as hints of toasted oak and vanilla. It’s full-bodied with round, creamy texture and a delicious, complete finish. Minerally undertone. Best white yet from here. This still needs some time to come together. Try in 2022.James Suckling | 94 JSFresh and elegant, this medium- to full-bodied white offers pear and peach flavors, with a honey-tinged edge. Details of floral and baking spice emerge on the crisp, minerally finish. Chardonnay. Drink now through 2021. 3,554 cases made, 400 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WSPale gold colour. The wine is juicy and refreshing with an attractive depth of fruit. The nose and palate have floral and white fruit aromas with pear again to the fore. The oak is well integrated and the finish clean and dry. It’s a satisfying wine but there’s less depth and length than 2018. Drinking Window 2021 - 2023.Decanter | 90 DEC

Vestiges of malolactic fermentation presently mask the underlying fruit. On the plus side there is more volume still to the attractively textured medium weight flavors that brim with dry extract on the mineral-inflected, dry and focused finish. This is at once powerful yet refined and should also age well but be enjoyable young.Burghound | 89-92 BHLumpp opines that the stony, southeast-facing slopes of this lieu-dit represent Givry’s best terroir for white wine, and his 2016 Givry 1er Cru Crausot is certainly impressive, revealing fragrant aromas of white peaches and spring blossom, followed by a medium-bodied, elegantly glossy palate, with lovely purity and stony depth. It has the structure to improve with a few years’ bottle age.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

Harvested from a small parcel, less than four acres, this wine is in perfect condition. It is balanced, with white fruit and citrus coming together, led by the acidity. It is developing into a full, ripe wine. Wait until 2019.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE(Pouilly-Fumé “Clos des Chaudoux”- Domaine Serge Dagueneau et Fille) The 2016 Clos des Chaudoux Domaine Serge and Valerie Dagueneau is an outstanding bottle of Pouilly-Fumé. This is unique in the family’s lineup, as these fifty-five year-old sauvignon blanc vines are actually planted on terres blanches limestone, rather than flint. The wine is quite tropical in its fruit complexion in 2016, offering up notes of pineapple, tangerine, just a touch of damp grass, beautiful chalky minerality and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, focused and complex, with plenty of secondary development already showing, but coupled to a good girdle of acidity and plenty of cut and grip on the long finish. With the frosts of 2016, this wine may be just a touch idiosyncratically styled in this vintage, but it has depth, beaucoups complexity and impressive backend length. I decanted the wine to let it blossom and consume some of its initial aromatic oddities, and I really liked the wine after that. It is never going to make you forget a great vintage of Didier Dagueneau’s Pur Sang, but it is loaded with personality all the same! (Drink between 2019-2030)John Gilman | 91 JG

Notes of petrol and pear are focused and intense on the nose. The palate is bright and lemony, with a silky smoothness. A long, puckery finish leaves a tingly sensation, as well as delicious notes of dill, fennel frond and eucalyptus. This wine is a bit of a slow burner and could easily keep aging, but there’s plenty here to enjoy and discover now.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEVivid straw-green. Rich aromas of soft citrus fruits, honey and minerals. Dense, juicy and tactile on the palate, featuring expressive flavors of apricot, beeswax and spices. This fresh, deep, suave Riesling showcases a lovely fruit intensity and boasts an unctuously sweet personality (only 6 g/L residual sugar but actually sweeter-tasting than that number indicates). Made with the best grapes from Trimbach’s many vineyards (previously, they have made a 350th anniversary wine in 1976, a 375th anniversary wine in 2001 and now this one) including such famous grands crus as the Osterberg and the Schoenenbourg. Drinking Window 2026 - 2035Vinous Media | 94 VMA graceful white that exhibits fragrant petrol, pine and white flowers on the nose, while offering ripe peach and Asian pear fruit flavors finely-meshed with mouthwatering acidity and an underscoring tang of salinity. Harmonious and creamy, with a lasting, spiced finish that echoes the aromatic profile. Drink now through 2036. 833 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSQuite tart and firm. This has enough depth to carry well, and there’s a great burst of candied-citrus character at the long finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 90 JS

Produced from vines planted in 1920 in an east/southeast-facing premier cru, de Suremain’s finest white is the 2017 Rully 1er Cru Pillot L’intemporelle, a striking wine that offers up attractive aromas of confit citrus, crisp green orchard fruit and almond paste. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with racy acids and a promising sense of tension and structural reserve. It’s well worth seeking out.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

The 2017 Pouilly Fumé Prédilection is from several terraces on Muschelkalk soils and located closer to the Loire, so they benefit from cool afternoon breezes and nights. The wine opens pure and crunchy on the nose when young, with stony aromas intermixed with notes of white fruit but gets more and more floral with bottle age. The palate is powerful, dense and complex, showing serious substance, tannins and length but also elegance and terroir expression. The finish is lush but also pure and salty and structured by very fine tannins. It’s a crystalline, refined and elegant style with a very long finish. Tasted in February 2021.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis wine takes its minerality from the chalk soil in which the vines grow. It has considerable texture as well as perfumed richness and dense white fruits accented by spice. The wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEVery pure and smoky, with a peach, apricot and elderflower fragrance and a fabulously expressive mineral acid undercurrent.Decanter | 90 DEC

The 2017 Chablis Mont de Milieu 1er Cru has more mineralité on the nose compared directly to the Sécher, attractive orange blossom and canned apricot scents emerging with time. The palate is well balanced with a tang of ginger on the entry, showing impressive weight and a taut, linear, quite persistent finish. This is excellent, fulfilling the potential it showed back in June.Vinous Media | 92 VMBeautiful aromas of wet stones and limes, as well as grapefruit. The palate has a very succulent and attractive feel with lithe and linear acidity as a feature. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 92 JSAs usual, the 2017 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu is the most blocky and broad-shouldered of the domaine’s premiers crus, revealing notes of smoky citrus oil, white flowers and oyster shell, followed by a medium to full-bodied, powerful palate that’s still youthfully firm, balanced by tangy acids and concluding with a distinctly saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91+ RP(Maison Joseph Drouhin Chablis "Mont de Milieu" 1er Cru White) A distinct whiff of the exotic can be found on the layered and riper nose that combines notes of apricot, white peach, lychee and hint of tidal pool. Once again there is plenty of citrus influence to the bigger and richer medium-bodied flavors that possess good muscle and punch, all wrapped in an impressively powerful, long and serious finale. This youthfully austere effort is clearly built-to-age and is going to need at least some forbearance. (Drink starting 2025)Burghound | 91 BH(Chablis “Mont de Milieu”- Domaine Drouhin Vaudon) Mont de Milieu is on the Right Bank in Chablis and this sector was far more severely hit by the late April frosts than was the case across the Yonne, so yields here are decidedly lower than was the case with the estate’s Sécher, Montmains or Vaillons. The wine is more forward out of the blocks in 2017 than the Sécher, offering up a precise and inviting bouquet of lemon, green apple, limestone soil tones, spring flowers and a topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant in profile, with a bright, but easy-going structural chassis, fine mid-palate depth and a long, bouncy and complex finish. This is already very tasty, but seems to have the balance to age quite well, despite not being particularly steely in terms of acidity. (Drink between 2018-2040)John Gilman | 91 JGA lift of citrus on the nose of this wine immediately sets a bright, fresh accent. The palate comes in with ripe, fresh Mirabelle abundance that enjoys the definition and texture reminiscent of white citrus pith. This wine focuses on fruit but manages to stay toned and defined. Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

A step up over the 2018, the 2017 Condrieu Les Cassines has textbook aromas and flavors of honeyed citrus, tangerine oil, crushed rocks, and spice. Rich, beautifully textured, and balanced, it’s rocking Condrieu that I suspect will continue to drink beautifully for 3-4 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JD

Luminous straw-green. Slightly compressed but still perfumed nose of sage, thyme, gooseberry, lime and white flowers. Then excellent inner-mouth perfume of lime, passion fruit and gooseberries. Closes long, tactile and saline, not to mention very refined. Lovely wine from a recognized master of the Sauvignon Blanc variety not just in Alto Adige, but in all of Italy.Vinous Media | 93 VM

Alexandra Boudrot made this wine from a 6.18-acre parcel at Mambourg, a grand cru on the south face of Mount Sigolsheim. It has the clean balance of a vintage without extremes, a sweet adolescent beauty delivered in high-toned spice and meadow-flower scents. There’s underlying toasty richness, but the main element is a freshness that can carry off that glistening impression of sweetness. Decant it for chawanmushi (a delicate, savory Japanese custard) or serve it with a bacon-and-onion quiche.Wine and Spirits Mag | 94 W&SA concentrated nose of Damask rose and juicy peach makes for a heady opening on this wine. A hint of grapefruit-peel spice plays on the juicy, medium-sweet palate. Along with citrus freshness, this creates a lovely balance of richness and freshness.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

From more basalt soils, the 2017 Chardonnay Frenchman Hills is another beautiful wine from this team that was fermented in a mix of puncheons and concrete and aged all in barrel. Lots of minerality, honeyed golden apple, brioche, and subtle caramelized lemon notes all flow to a medium-bodied, vibrant white that has bright acidity, plenty of richness and depth, and a great finish. It’s another age-worthy effort that will benefit from bottle age.Jeb Dunnuck | 94+ JDPlenty of sliced apple and pear aromas with hints of cream and vanilla. Full-bodied, layered and nicely oily with a long, flavorful finish. Dried fruit and candied lemon at the end. All about purity of fruit. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JSA luscious texture blends with a crisp spine of acid that drives the apricot, honeysuckle and spiced golden apple flavors, ending with a plump finish. Drink now. 356 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSPale gold colored, the 2017 Chardonnay Frenchman Hills Vineyard seems the most subdued of the range this year, having faint hints of apple blossom, seared pears and citrus peel. Medium-bodied, the palate is short, straightforward and mineral-laden and leaves me wanting more vibrancy and precision before ending with a soft phenolic finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPBright yellow. Slightly reduced aromas of yellow stone fruits and nutty, toasty oak. Rich, ripe and a bit fat; offers very good mouth feel but not quite the depth of fruit or subtle complexity of the Moxee or Roza Hills Chardonnays. Finishes with a slightly dry phenolic edge, good length and a touch of baking spices. (from 28-year-old vines planted on volcanic soil at an altitude of 1,700 feet).Vinous Media | 90 VM

Musky apricot pit, peach and spicy vanillin oak on the nose. Densely packed but quite suave and fine-grained in spite of its saline thrust. A very sappy, refined midweight with lovely salinity and tactile length. Offers much more than just fruit: sexy oak, minerals, cyanic fruit pit. Fresh stone fruits continue to emerge as the wine opens with air. Finishes with a lovely spine of citrussy acidity and sneaky building length. No shortage of weight or palate presence here but very shapely and refined. This superb Washington Chardonnay held up brilliantly in the recorked bottle and should evolve positively over the next several years. (aged in French oak, 40% new; about 35% of the wine went through malolactic fermentation)Vinous Media | 93 VMAn impressive Chardonnay, the 2018 from Abeja offers lots of peach, apple, and lemon oil notes as well as a medium-bodied, rich yet also fresh style on the palate. I love its balance and it’s going to drink nicely for 2-3 years at a minimum.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JDLively and expressive, the 2018 Chardonnay begins with aromas of toasted oak, white peach, baked apples and pears with a waft of lemon crème brûlée on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is rich with a round edge and energetic acidity and displays a balanced structure across the mid-palate. The wine shows delightful complexity on the lingering finish with lasting sensations of citrus blossom, Anjou pear and peach skin followed by a nuance of graham cracker crust. Nicely done.Robert Parker | 90+ RPBright and elegantly easygoing, with apple and citrus flavors that linger toward a delicately spicy finish. Drink now. 520 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WSA straightforward chardonnay with cooked-apple and lemon character. Some pie crust. Medium body. Easy to drink now.James Suckling | 90 JSThe aromas offer notes of toast, barrel char and stone fruit. The palate brings a ripe peach flavor that maintains a sleek profile out of the gate, filling out over time.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

Lithe and vibrant, this finely-balanced Gewürztraminer glides across the palate with a lovely range of lychee, peach skin, jasmine and passion fruit coulis flavors. The well-cut, mineral-laced finish lingers, echoing the ripe fruit and spice notes. Drink now through 2028.Wine Spectator | 93 WSAromas of candlewax and lychee arise from the glass. On the palate, they’re met with luscious sweetness and racy (but not quite searing) acidity, as well as some cooked apple and nutmeg notes. Though a hair more acid would have been a welcome refreshment, this wine’s weighty, velvety texture and long finish are lovely.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

After some time in the glass, the 2018 Chardonnay Cascadia opens to dried chamomile and apple slices with notes of hay, candle smoke, roasted almonds and beeswax. The palate is broad and creamy with expansive, honeyed layers, finishing with great length and powerful flavor. It’s pure pleasure!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP(Chardonnay “Cascadia”- Brick House Wine Company (Ribbon Ridge)) The Cascadia bottling from Brick House is their Reserve bottling of chardonnay, made from a barrel selection of the finest casks in the cellar in any given vintage. The 2018 Cascadia tips the scales at a very refined twelve percent alcohol and offers up a very expressive bouquet of pear, hazelnut, complex soil tones, a hint of passion fruit, white lilies, a dollop of fresh nutmeg and a very stylish framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, youthful and full, with a superb core, excellent mineral drive and cut, impressive focus and a long, nascently complex and beautifully balanced finish. This is still a puppy and really deserves at least two or three years in the cellar to allow its secondary layers to emerge. Fine juice. (Drink between 2024-2040)John Gilman | 93 JGDried apple, spiced pear, grilled pineapple, smoke, licorice, lime zest and flint on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with bright acidity. Tight, spiced and flinty. Excellent focus. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 92 JSAn alluring white, with a luscious yet crisply vibrant texture. Offers expressive pear blood orange accents that linger on a minerally finish. Drink now through 2021. 220 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSCrisp and layered, with whiffs of flower and spice, this appealing young wine offers fresh apple fruit, along with lighter, well-defined flavors of cucumber and white peach. The low alcohol is in keeping with the flavor profile, but the biodynamic farming brings great depth and detail, unusual in such a lightly ripened wine.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

Brought up in 20% new French oak, the 2018 Chardonnay Los Alamos reveals a light gold hue as well as a beautiful bouquet of stone fruits, toasted bread, almond paste, and honeysuckle. Beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, and seamless on the palate, it’s a gorgeous Chardonnay as well as a brilliant value!Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDLemon blossom, light pecan and classic oak aromas show on the nose of this bottling. The chalky palate and fresh, lingering acidity ride through tight lines of lemon peel and vanilla, which extend deep into the finish.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WETasting Gavin Chanin’s majestic chardonnay bottling from Los Alamos is like standing on a hilltop in that vineyard and letting the sea spray imperceptibly coat your lips. Beneath the cinnamon spice and the citrus brightness is a kind of bracing, briny green sensation, reminding one taster of agretti,the salty springtime green that finds its way into Italian salads. The wine is bracing and delicious, with the structure to age ten years or more.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SThe nose is dominated by orange rind and starfruit with a subtle note of struck flint behind. The palate is rich, beaming and wide, exuding the sunshine and sandy soils that define this site. The Los Alamos Vineyard bottling is typically the most tropical, flashy and forward of the Chanin Chardonnays, as is the case in the 2018 vintage. 18 months in mostly neutral barrique, full malolactic fermentation. Drinking Window 2020 - 2035.Decanter | 93 DECThe 2018 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard is a very pretty, airy wine. Candied lemon peel, almond paste and chamomile are all laced together. Tangerine oil and tropical accents add an exotic flair as this mid-weight Chardonnay opens nicely in the glass.Antonio Galloni | 92 AG

The 2018 Chablis Village, matured for 12 months in 80% stainless steel and 20% used oak, has a vibrant, fresh, classic Chablis nose that many other growers were not able to achieve in this warm year. The palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, vibrant and zesty, showing a touch of spice on the elegant finish. This must surely be one of the finest Chablis Village of 2018.Vinous Media | 92 VMA touch of wet walnut accompanies pear and lemon on this wine’s fresh nose. Vivaciousness at the core belies the heat of the 2018 vintage. Yes, there is concentration and some midpalate weight, but salty, preserved-lemon freshness dominates the wine and bright finish.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The 2018 Chablis Vauprin comes from 1.7ha of 25-year-old vines and is raised for 12 months in 50% oak barrels and 50% stainless steel. It has a very harmonious bouquet of yellow flowers, mirabelle, crushed rocks and light hazelnut aromas that attain impressive intensity with aeration. The palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity; there is real tension and race here. The finish fans out wonderfully and its persistence deserves applause considering the relatively unknown location of this vineyard. Highly recommended.Vinous Media | 93 VMResonant notes of roasted hazelnut on the nose of this wine sit well with the lemon brightness. The palate carries the same nuttiness but puts lemon freshness center stage. This slightly smoky combination is bedded on a smooth but cooling, yeasty texture, with beautiful length. Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The 2018 Chablis Côte de Jouan 1er Cru has a gorgeous bouquet of lemon curd, orange pith and honeysuckle scents that seem to grab the olfactory senses. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, taut and crisp, leading to a complex finish of sour lemon, kumquat and saline notes that linger on the aftertaste. Superb.Vinous Media | 93 VM

Limpid yellow-gold. Vibrant, mineral- and spice-accented citrus and orchard fruit and jasmine qualities on the highly perfumed nose. Juicy and energetic in the mouth, offering Meyer lemon, pear nectar and quinine flavors and a touch of buttered toast. Closes minerally and impressively long, delivering a resonating floral note and firm, spicy lift.Vinous Media | 93 VMAromas of slightly seared lemon peel, lime and grapefruit blossom show on the bright nose of this bottling. The palate is more toasty in oak flavors, but a lemon twist adds vibrancy.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

A decadent complexity of yellow peach, smoky nuts and fragrant almonds with beautifully crafted oak, superb acidity and a long, powerful finish. Truly delicious.Decanter | 95 DEC

The 2018 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru shows a little more definition and terroir expression compared directly with the Montée de Tonnerre. Lemon peel, touches of crushed stone and dried flowers almost reluctantly emerge with aeration. The palate is powerful and expressive, with a honeyed texture...Vinous Media | 92 VMThis is also quite cool with its restrained, airy and more elegant nose that features notes of mineral reduction, oyster shell and white flowers. The racy and beautifully well-delineated middle weight flavors deliver excellent persistence on the clean, notably dry and bracing finale where a hint of bitter lemon appears.Burghound | 90-92 BHThis has attractive peach and peach-kernel aromas with hints of flint and almond pastry. The palate has a very fleshy and succulent feel with apricot, mango and yellow-peach flavors. A steely-mineral spark below. Drink on release.James Suckling | 91-92 JS