Wine Producing Countries

wines

The 2019 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has a less flamboyant bouquet than its peers. This feels more reserved and flinty, though very nicely defined and focused. The palate is well balanced, with the weight and density I look for in a Vaillon, and a little spicier than the Vosgros. A touch of lemongrass and a hint of green olive appear toward the finish. Fine.Vinous Media | 91 VMAromas of peach, apricot, honey, white flowers and iodine preface the 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and charming wine that’s the most demonstrative premier cru in the cellar this year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RP

Unfurling in the glass with aromas of red berries, rose petals, sweet soil tones and orange rind, the 2019 Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles is medium to full-bodied, ample and velvety, with a fleshy core of fruit and a vibrant, seamless profile, concluding with a fragrant, peony-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPDe Montille has two parcels of Pézerolles totalling 1.35ha, located just above Petits Epenots, nearly at the northern limit of the appellation. The vineyard delivers a most un-Pommardian sort of wine; supple and approachable, with sweet cherry fruit and a tender, silky texture on the palate that recalls the wines of Volnay. It is fermented with 50% whole clusters and the wine is approachable now, yet should age well for years to come.Decanter | 93 DECThe vines are a mix of old and young, with replantings now on stream. The old vines have been vinified as whole bunches, around 40% overall. Medium depth of colour, and a slightly darker fruit, less sweetly sensual than the Grands Epenots. This is not a monster, but does stretch out beautifully to a fine long finish. Darker cherry and raspberry throughout. Tasted Oct 2020.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMThe 2019 Pommard Les Pézerolles 1er Cru is much more backward on the nose compared to de Montille’s other Pommards, offering brambly red berry fruit, clove and bay leaf. The palate is beautifully balanced, the 50% whole cluster contributing a light pepperiness but allowing the terroir to shine. Smooth on the finish. Vinous Media | 91-93 VMHere too there is a whiff of volatile acidity that plays at the edge of perceptibility on the mostly red berry fruit and spice infused nose. There is a lovely sense of refinement to the nicely rich and well-delineated flavors that exude a bracing salinity on the sneaky long, firm and youthfully austere finale. While not technically perfect, this is still really quite good.Burghound | 90-93 BH

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

The 2019 Chablis Vaulorent 1er Cru has an exquisite bouquet of beautifully defined citrus fruit, apple blossom and light flinty notes; a bit of peach skin emerges with aeration. The harmonious palate is very well balanced, delivering admirable depth, well-judged acidity, and flavors of white peach and a touch of quince toward the linear finish. Classy.Vinous Media | 93 VMA more elegant and slightly riper nose also offers plenty of classic Chablis character on the markedly floral-suffused white orchard fruit scents. The more voluminous though a bit less mineral-driven medium-bodied flavors culminate in an energetic, delicious and lingering if slightly awkward finale. This may well come together, and it does have a very good track record, but I prefer not to guess.Burghound | 90-92 BH

With 3.65ha spread over eight plots, Fèvre is the largest owner in Vaulorent. Didier Seguier says marl soil gives the density, while Kimmeridgian supplies the minerality. Great complexity on both the nose and palate, this has the richness and structure of the grand cru. Absolutely no need to rush drinking this. Stunning.Decanter | 96 DECOne of the finest wines in the portfolio this year is the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent, a taut, youthfully reserved bottling of immense promise. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus zest, beeswax, crisp white peach, white flowers, freshly baked bread and oyster shell, it’s medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with terrific tensioning intensity in a tightly wound format. It’s warmly recommended, though patience will be required.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP(Chablis “Vaulorent”- Domaine William Fèvre) I am always impressed that Didier Séguier chooses to only bottle the finest parcels of old vines in Vaulorent under that label, with the remainder of the domaine’s holdings being bottled under a Fourchaume label. But, when one tastes this hard on the heels of the very fine Fourchaume domaine wine, one can see that these old vines are a step up in quality. The bouquet of the 2020 Vaulorent jumps from the glass in a stunning blend of pear, apple, tart orange, lemon zesty, a kaleidoscopic base of limestone minerality, a touch of anise and a floral topnote redolent of white lilies. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a rock solid core of fruit, superb mineral drive and cut, snappy acids and great balance on the long and zesty finish. Great juice. (Drink between 2027 - 2065)John Gilman | 94+ JGThe restrained and layered nose makes clear that this could be from nowhere else but Chablis with its aromas of algae, iodine, oyster shell and spiced pear. The texture of the medium-weight flavors is also sleek and intense with slightly better density if a bit less refinement to the youthfully austere bitter lemon-suffused finish. Lovely and while qualitatively equal to the MdT, it offers a markedly different expression.Burghound | 93 BH

A wine from a selection of sites over 3.9ha in Butteaux, Forêts and Montmains. Butteaux is very cold and mineral, while Forêts is elegant and floral. Great precision and focus here, allied with crystalline citrus fruits on the palate. Shows density, but is also very fresh, with lovely mineral characters on the finish. A highly successful Montmains.Decanter | 93 DECConsisting of roughly equal parts Montmains, Butteaux and Forêts (the three sous-climats of Montmains), the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains offers up aromas of crisp green apple, white flowers, bee pollen and oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, it’s taut and precise, concluding with a saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP(Chablis “Montmains”- Domaine William Fèvre) The 2020 Montmains here is also lovely, with perhaps just a bit more definition and complexity than in the Beauroy. The nose is pure and bright, offering up scents of apple, tart orange, wet stone minerality, citrus peel, dried flowers and a nice shading of oyster shell. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and racy in personality, with fine focus and grip, a lovely core and a long, minerally and beautifully balanced finish. A lovely example. (Drink between 2026 - 2055)John Gilman | 92+ JG(Chablis Montmains 1er Cru, Domaine William Fèvre, White) From all three sections of the vineyard as usual. Racy lemon colour. Pure crystalline nose, very little reduction, very classical left bank Chablis, very intense but neither heavy nor exotic. The kimmeridgian is speaking underneath a graceful layer of flesh. Fruit and stones both keep coming back at the finish.Jasper Morris | 92-95Here too the nose is elegant, pure and layered but with more floral and spice nuances adding breadth to the cooler and more restrained aromas. There is both excellent intensity and density to the mineral-driven flavors that terminate in a bone-dry, sneaky long and balanced finale. This too is really very good.Burghound | 91-93 BHThe 2020 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru comes from 3.8 hectares of vines over 12 parcels and offers pressed white flower scents and a touch of crushed rock. The well-defined palate features red apple mixed with subtle spicy notes that dovetail into a generous, leesy finish. Fine.Vinous Media | 89-91 VM

The 2020 Chablis Mont de Milieu 1er Cru has a more powerful bouquet than its peers with scents of orange blossom, Nashi pear and an underlying gunflint note trying to surface. The palate is well balanced with orange rind and a touch of peach skin on the entry. Very poised and harmonious with impressive volume, I admire its tension and persistence on the saline finish. This will not require much bottle maturation, yet it has the substance to last 15-20 years. Excellent. Tasted blind at the BIVB tasting in Chablis.Vinous Media | 93 VM

The 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux Vieilles Vignes will be bottled later than usual, as Michel was still waiting on the delivery of glass bottles when I visited—but extra time on the fine lees certainly won’t do it any harm. Exhibiting aromas of pear, white flowers, freshly baked bread, confit citrus and iodine, it’s medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, with terrific depth and tension. It’s a close race between this and Michel’s Vaulorent this year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RPBack in the fleshier style so for once I may have a preference for the regular. But then I love it on the palate with just a little bit of fresh red fruit mixing in. This has been racked a second time and sulphured which may explain the nose. The finish is excellent and very well poised.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JM

An airy nose freely offers up notes of pepper and white flowers along with plenty of pear, apple and quinine hints. There is fine richness to the very round middle weight flavors that exude a subtle minerality on the saline, focused and mildly austere finale. This is not especially complex, but it is indisputably Chablis-like and is a wine that may well develop more depth in time.Burghound | 89-92 BH

This wine is perhaps the most emblematic Givry wine from Thenard, with a ripe mulberry fruit accented with notes of earth, Havana cigar, and smoke. The texture is super dense, and there is plenty of tannin, but a fresh acidity balances all this concentration. Clos St. Peter is of course next to Clos St. Paul, reasonably high on the slope, and it is a two-hectare monopole of Domaine Thénard. An excellent introduction to the appellation.Decanter Magazine | 93 DEC

The 2020 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru has a straightforward bouquet: orchard fruit and Granny Smith apples with just a touch of petrichor. It’s not complex, but it has more typicité than some of its brethren (even if it needs to shake off some reduction that actually becomes more evident with aeration). The palate is well-balanced with plenty of concentration, real weight and heft in the mouth, citrus peel mixed with lanolin and a hint of fennel. Spicy towards the finish, this lingers long in the mouth. Power and tenderness combined. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.Vinous Media | 95 VMFresh in colour, a lifted perfumed floral nose, on the sharper side. Then some bacon fat as well as lemon balm. Not quite sure what to make of this. No faulting the intensity, but it is not quite harmonious today. Drink from 2025-2030. Tasted May 2024.Jasper Morris | 92 JM

Pale colour. A light and elegant nose, some marine notes behind, gentle but showing well, with a little more volume behind, a wave of white fruit and an attractively nuanced finish. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted Jul 2023.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

Droin’s Montmains site is on a gentle slope with richer, deeper, kimmeridgian marl soils. A colder site, making the wine richer and with great density on the palate. Distinctly more weight than the Vaillons, giving the blend plenty of gravitas. 8-10 months ageing on fine lees adds a creamy character with acidity less pronounced than with the Vaillons. Classy.Decanter | 92 DECThe 2021 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru has a classic Chablis-like bouquet with scents of shucked oyster shell and light fumé notes emerging from the glass. The palate is well balanced with a saline, lemon rind infused entry, moderate weight, perhaps not quite as precise as the Vaillons yet with satisfying persistence. Fine.Vinous Media | 89-91 VMAn even more floral-suffused nose speaks of the pretty essence of pear and apple while offering better overall typicity. The palate impression of the middleweight flavors is also plump, round and fleshy with its reasonably persistent, dry and balanced finale that also could use better depth. This attractive effort should be approachable young yet also reward 4 to 7 years of keeping.Burghound | 89-92 BH

Droin’s Fourchaume is located in the Vaupulent sector, on deep, clay-rich soils. A warmer site, this is a;ready very appealing with nice touches of baked apples and stone-fruit on the palate, with softer acidity and concentration. Although accessible early, this has the concentration to age extremely well and will deliver more saline aspects with more bottle age.Decanter | 92 DECA whiff of mineral reduction is present on the nose of pear and apple compote where there is just enough Chablis typicity to be convincing. The succulent, round and palate coating flavors possess good underlying tension while delivering solid depth and length on the delicious finish where the only nit is a hint of warmth.Burghound | 90-92 BHThe 2021 Chablis Fourchaume 1er Cru shows a little more reduction on the nose compared to other cuvées but a pleasant flintiness develops with time. The palate is well balanced with a cohesive entry, fine weight although it doesn’t quite deliver the same precision as the Mont de Milieu at the moment. Fine.Vinous Media | 89-91 VM

The 2021 Chablis Vaillon 1er Cru Cuvée Guy Moreau comprises just five used barrels this year. The fine bouquet is a little more mineral-driven than the regular cuvée with touches of wet pavement and citrus lemon. The palate is well-balanced, fresh and taut, with a fine bead of acidity, growing a little more compact towards the finish but with slightly more salinity to get the tastebuds going. Very fine.Vinous Media | 92 VMHere too there is a vaguely exotic note to the pretty and very floral aromas of spice, pear, apple and quinine that are trimmed in subtle wood. The old vines are very much in evidence on the concentrated, palate coating and rich bigger-bodied flavors that possess focused power on the saline and intensely bitter zest-suffused finish. This should be excellent in time.Burghound | 92 BHThis white packs a mix of peach, melon, lime and pastry flavors, which pick up light smoke and mineral accents as this builds to the finish. Firm, crisp and long. Drink now through 2026. 20 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WSThis and the Grands Crus were made entirely in wood so as to keep the existing stock of barrels full of wine. Pale yellow, with a little butteriness from the wood. This slightly dominates the palate with a note of acidity to finish. Will sort itself out in due course. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted: June 2022.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JM

Brisk fresh pale yellow. There is a fine floral quality here too. Then almost a touch of super-ripeness with a bit of bacon fat, followed by a more saline finish. Interesting and high quality in its style. Drink from 2024-2029. Tasted Oct 2022.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JMHere too there is noticeable petrol character to the floral, mineral reduction and green apple-suffused aromas. The middleweight flavors don’t possess the same density but they are markedly finer and much more mineral-driven on the linear, youthfully austere and crisp finale. This could also use more depth but the underlying material and balance should allow that to occur if given a chance.Burghound | 90-92 BH

A more floral and elegant nose freely offers up its slightly riper array of plum, black cherry and exotic spice nuances. The lilting and beautifully detailed middleweight flavors deliver outstanding length on the balanced, youthfully austere and stony finale. This doesn’t presently have quite the same depth as the Clos l’Audignac but the texture is more sophisticated and overall, this is class in a glass.Burghound | 93 BH

With 2.15ha, a blend from three plots in Chapelot, Montée de Tonnerre and Pied d’Aloup, with vines in the latter now 87 years old. As expected of Montée de Tonnerre, this will need a lot of time to come round. Powerful, primary and concentrated, with restrained mineral, stony notes. Great purity here, salty finish.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECLike the Vaillons, this is also quite firmly reduced though there is some wood influence present as well. The focused and beautifully refined flavors ooze minerality on the almost painfully intense, bone-dry and strikingly long but not especially austere finale. This is very stylish as well as classy. Well worth checking out.Burghound | 93 BHChapelot, Pied d’Aloue, Cote de Bréchain. Mostly tank. Very pretty lemon and lime colour. A clean, incisive bouquet, very pure and with class. Tension at the back, extremely youthful but definitely promising. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted Jun 2022.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JM

A cooler and airier mix is comprised by notes of plum, red and dark currant that are trimmed in noticeable wood and menthol influences. The medium-bodied and vibrant flavors possess a positively gorgeous mouthfeel along with both good richness and minerality while delivering impressive power on the palate staining finish. The wood treatment aside, this is a classic Clos des Chênes.Burghound | 91-93 BH

The deeper clays of this site tend to do well in warmer years, and the 2022 Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux is no exception, offering up aromas of dried white flowers, peach, citrus oil and freshly baked bread, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and fleshy palate that retains good cut and tension in this warm vintage, concluding with a mouthwateringly saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

Here the equally cool, airy and elegant nose reflects citrus and floral scents that are liberally-suffused with a similar dose of borderline pungent wet stone nuances. There is both excellent volume and focused power to the dense and intense medium-bodied flavors that exude an almost palpable minerality on the superbly long finish that comes close to etching itself on the palate. This is an absolute knockout and a clear candidate for the best premier cru of the vintage.Burghound | 96 BHGuillaume Boillot continues to work his nearly four hectares of old vines in the Clos de la Mouchère in several parcels; we tasted each section separately. The vines near the wood surrounding Clos de la Garenne have bright citrus notes with hints of flint and mineral. Those near Clavoillon have more of a ripe pear and marzipan aroma; they are less focused but have more density, elegance and depth. The combination makes a superb wine that is one of the delights of Boillot’s cellar.Decanter | 95 DECMid yellow, with a biscuity touch. Seems unsubtle until you get to the palate which is super powerful but also with subtlety. This Monopole vineyard comprises four distinct terroirs though they are always assembled. An electric backbone stops the power overturning the balance. Yellow fruit, and then an extraordinary, indeed grand cru, weight. Incisive white fruit finish. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted: December 2023.Jasper Morris | 95-97 JMThe 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchère 1er Cru is one of the most shut down of the whites in this vast range. Mineral and savory notes abound, but fruit is decidedly pushed into the background. Citrus confit, crushed rocks, mint and white pepper all race across the palate. There’s quite a bit of youthful austerity at this stage, but this should come together in time. A whole range of complex floral and tropical nuances linger. - Antonio GalloniVinous Media | 93-95 VM