White Wines

wines

Brought up all in new demi-muids and barrels, the 100% Roussanne 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Roussanne Vieilles Vignes offers a heavenly bouquet of ripe quince, acacia flowers, toasted almonds, citrus oil, and spice. Ful-bodied, deep, concentrated, and layered, with an unctuous style, this is pure Beaucastel magic. Reminding me of the 2009 (which is drinking brilliantly today), it deserves 2-4 years of bottle age and will absolutely blow you away over the following decade or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Roussanne Vieilles Vignes is another triumphant vintage for this bottling. Fermented and matured in a combination of new and second-use oak, it’s ripe and honeyed, with waves of lush peach and melon fruit, yet it somehow never seems overdone. Full-bodied, ripe and round, it’s expansive in the mouth yet never heavy, finishing long and luxurious, with subtle hints of wood spice, honey and citrus.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPAmazing nose of dried apricots and caramelized pears with a lot of toasted nut complexity. Very rich and mellow on the full-bodied palate, this glides over your palate. Opulent in the best sense, the creaminess very sensual, and then comes the amazingly graceful and properly dry, super-long finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 97 JSThis extraordinary white is just beginning to open up to reveal its expert mix of power and refinement, with measured opulence held in check by saline-streaked mineral notes. There’s plenty of ripe yellow apple and pear to give the desired voluptuousness, with a simmering well of energy keeping tension from start to lengthy finish. Subtle oak toast and buttercream hints remain gracefully integrated in the backdrop. A few years in the cellar will allow this to really shine. Drink now through 2035.Wine Spectator | 96 WSRicher, more honeyed than the 2023 on the nose. Generous and full-bodied, with low acidity and more noticeable noble bitter notes than the 2023. The oak isn’t quite so well integrated yet, so give it more time to harmonise. Powerful, though, and very flavoursome, with a spicy profile. The alcohol doesn’t feel excessive, even for a hot, dry vintage like 2022. A particularly bold and powerful example of this cuvée, which is from a single parcel of Roussanne, planted in 1919 and grown biodynamically. Aged in one-year-old demi-muids and barriques. Maximum of 6,000 bottles per year.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe dashing 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Roussanne Vieilles Vignes is yet another brilliant white from this reliable address. Discrete cedar, lemon peel, ripe pear, yellow apple and spring blossom are all pushed forward. Verbena tea and melon add more dimension. Hitting the palate with ample concentration and tension, the 2022 flawlessly makes its way to a sapid finish that lingers with an elegant aftertaste.Vinous Media | 95 VM

Coming from the Les Murets lieu-dit and 100-year-old vines, with 20% from L’Ermite, the 2022 Ermitage Ex-Voto Blanc is a heavenly white offering quince, candle wax, crushed stone, and orange blossom-like aromatics. Based on 95% Marsanne and 5% Roussanne and aged 24 months in new French oak, it shows incredible depth and purity, with full-bodied richness and a focused, balanced style. This monumental Hermitage needs a year or two and should have decades of longevity. Hermitage Blanc doesn’t get any better! Drink 2025-2045.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe fabulous 2022 Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto unwinds with vivid lemon flesh, yellow apple, white peach and honeysuckle. Flinty subtleties add a deliciously reductive touch. On the palate, the 2022 dazzles with remarkable depth and intensity, all backed by refreshing levels of bright acidity. What an awesome Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto! Readers should note that no 2021 was produced.Vinous Media | 96 VMVery youthful, but the concentration, firm structure and vitality are already very impressive. This shows ample toast and vanilla-oak aromas plus pronounced oak tannins, but all of this is integrating beautifully. Stunning interplay of restrained creaminess and intense stony minerality in the long finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JS

An unusually bright, light-gold color with hints of green in it distinguish this rare wine from the first glance before rich, layered and complex aromas lead to even richer poached pears, hazelnuts and cream on the palate. Full-bodied but light on its feet, the wine shows deft balance, great depth and incredible length on the finish. Best from 2028.James Suckling | 100 JSDrouhin’s Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche is always a classic expression of Montrachet, and often among the best ’bargains’ from this site. The 2022 has exotic aromas of ripe peach, nectarine, green apple and hints of acacia flowers, star anise, and beeswax. The texture has the weight of the vineyard and a creamy opulence, yet there is enough freshness to carry the wine to a charmingly persistent finish. The grapes from the Laguiche holdings are from five parcels totalling just over two hectares, picked in three passes by the Drouhin team. (Drink between 2030 - 2070)Decanter | 96 DECStill on its fine lees. A fine fresh very pale primrose colour. Super discreet nose, just offering some light floral notes at first, but you know there is so much more to come. It is not over exuberant but the fruit comes across the palate in little wavelets, perfectly balanced acidity, the oak subsumed into the intensity of the fruit. The 2022 Marquis de Laguiche Montrachet bows out with a wonderfully long and fine finish. Drink from 2034-2045. Tasted: November 2023.Jasper Morris | 96-98 JMThe 2022 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Grand Cru was harvested in three picks this year. Exhibiting aromas of pear, peach, honeycomb, toasted nuts, baking spices and buttered toast, it’s full-bodied, ample and unctuous, with a richly layered core of fruit, lively acids and a long, resonant finish. Tasted from a barrel sample before an aerating racking, it displayed fine tension.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPSmoky notes of mineral reduction add breadth to the cool and airy nose of mildly exotic white peach, citrus confit and a plenitude of floral wisps that are trimmed in discreet oak influence. The refined medium weight flavors possess good if not genuinely special density but with a positively gorgeous texture that carries over to the stony bitter lemon zest finale that possesses stunningly good length and terrific complexity. This is very classy and a wine that I suspect will add weight with bottle aging.Burghound | 93-96 BH