Wine Ratings

wines

Lovely strawberry, peach-skin and cherry-pip aromas with a similar echoing of fruit on the palate, in a fresh and generous mode. Fruity, flattering and well made. Drink now.James Suckling | 90 JS

Here’s another food-friendly wine from beautiful Piedmont. The 2021 Barbera d’Alba shows a dark purplish hue and saturated fruit flavors of dried blackberry and black cherry. There are hints of crushed mineral or oyster shell as well. The wine’s medium thickness would work across a breaded veal steak. Fruit is sourced across various sites with different soil types.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

Here is another classic sparkling wine from northeast Italy. The Bisol 1542 2021 Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Crede Brut is crisp and citrusy with crushed oyster shell, flint and grated ginger. The wine ends with fresh, steely effervescence. This is an amazing value with 301,000 bottles released to the market. The blend is specifically 87.5% Glera, 10% Chardonnay and 2.5% Pinot Nero.The Wine Advocate (Monica Larner) | 90 RPPear-fruit nose with green apples, nectarines and chalk that give an upbeat, almost peachy accent to the palate. Creamy and fresh, with a silky mousse. Lots of green apples in the finish. Drink now.James Suckling | 90 JS

The 2021 Meursault Les Vireuils Dessous has quite a strict nose at the moment. The 20% new oak well is integrated (Chassin cooperage), opening with bruised apple and Williams pear notes. The palate is well balanced with fine acidity, slightly resinous in texture and Chassagne-like finish. Saline and more-ish.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

With a salty, beeswax-like richness up front, there’s honey and white spice amidst the lime blossom, grapefruit and passionfruit notes that make up the core fruit flavors. They’re backlit by tomato leaf and green-herbal nuances. The palate has lovely depth and a slippery textural component that’s lifted by crunchy acidity and a herb-flecked finish.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEThis intense and aromatic Wairau Valley–sourced 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve packs plenty of concentration in its punchy core. While round and fruity, bursting with passionfruit, snow pea, elderflower and lemongrass flavors, there’s a bright citrusy character with a line of tension drawing this out on the medium-length finish. There’s a lot of wine here, showing yet again that 2021 is a excellent year for quality Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.Vinous Media | 91 VMMouthwatering and vibrant, with a note of salted melon, peach, mango and dried ginger on a juicy, succulent frame, showing plenty of intensity on the finish. Drink now. 19,000 cases made, 1,500 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

A pretty pale green tint to the colour. A clear cut, almost chiselled floral nose with greener notes, The floral side emerges more and more. Lean, long, lovely, if understated. Drink from 2025-2029. Tasted: November 2022.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JM

An airy, distinctly cool and restrained nose somewhat grudgingly offers up an array of the essence of pear, apple, acacia and an interesting whiff of just sliced lime. The rich and solidly concentrated medium-bodied flavors are at once succulent and seductive before terminating in a similar zest-inflected finish that offers notably better depth and persistence. Lovely and excellent quality here for a villages Puligny.Burghound | 90 BH

The 2021 Ventoux Terrasses Blanc is a gorgeous, clean, up-front, and delicious white that’s ideal for drinking over the coming summer months. Ripe lime, chalky mineral, mint, and some garrigue notes all define the nose, and it’s pure and clean on the palate, with wonderful fruit.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JD

The 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet Villages contains three barrels of the young vines in Les Caillerets. It has a crisp and enticing nose with apple blossom and crushed stone that soars from the glass. The palate is well balanced with fine nervosité, taut and linear with a vibrant, malic finish and a stony aftertaste.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

This delightful white from a single lieu-dit in Rully is a marvelous example of the solid quality possible in the Côte Chalonnaise. It boasts ripe apple and linden flower aromas with a hint of butter and spice. The fresh acidity feels fairly chiseled, yet there is enough extract to give the wine a rich texture and lingering finish. Chartron farms three hectares here on the border with Mercurey; the grapes are pressed as whole clusters and run into cask (10% new) for fermentation.Decanter | 91 DEC

The 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes has a pretty nose with Golden Delicious and light honeysuckle scents. The palate is quite weighty in the mouth, a pleasing rondeur, peach and dried apricot notes towards the finish. Not long term, but this is quite delicious, more-ish Chassagne.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Here too moderate wood sets off the overtly spicy and ripe aromas of white and yellow peach, iodine and hints of seashore. The sleek, delicious and intense flavors are just a bit more refined, indeed they are almost delicate, while still delivering excellent length on the citrus-tinged finish where a bit of wood slowly emerges.Burghound | 91-94 BHThe 2021 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru has a taut and fresh bouquet, wonderful mineralité with a hint of smoke and flint coming through. The palate is well balanced with a saline note, fine depth, lemon and a little more lime. Builds nicely in the mouth, a lovely Vaudésir.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMDroin’s Vaudésir comes from just over 1ha with vines planted on both north- and south-facing slopes. A little subdued on the nose and palate, this is a subtle grand cru with plenty of definition, and will blossom with two to three years additional bottle age. No oak.Decanter | 92 DEC

The 2021 Chablis Vosgros 1er Cru has quite a lot of reduction on the nose compared to the Village Cru. The palate is much more expressive, very harmonious and citrus-fresh, lime and orange rind, fine weight with a very smooth and satisfying finish. Don’t miss out on this delightful Vosgros - fresh and rich, as Benoît Droin mentions.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMVosgros is sometimes described as a ’left-bank’ premier cru with ’right-bank’ exposure. It is a valley which is very cold but has a sunny westerly exposition. Closed and precise at the moment, this spend 8-10 months on lees giving the wine a creamy yet elegant texture. A very classy premier cru, this will need several years to fully blossom.Decanter | 92 DECLike the Petit Chablis, moderate amounts of classic Chablis typicity are present on the lemon rind, white orchard fruit and petrol-scented nose. There is very good volume and punch to the delicious medium-bodied flavors that possess good muscle on the clean, dry and slightly austere finale that is supported by citrus-tinged acidity.Burghound | 90-92 BH

The 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Champgains unwinds in the glass with notes of pear, toasted nuts, honeycomb and light reduction, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy palate that’s attractively textural and enveloping.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPModerate reduction once again masks everything but citrus hints. On the palate there is excellent richness and concentration to the very generously proportioned medium-bodied flavors that are at once succulent but punchy, all wrapped in a lingering, dry and balanced finale. This could also use better depth but more should reasonable develop if given a chance. I would also note that this is already sufficiently pliant that it could be approached after only 3 to 4 years if desired.Burghound | 91 BH

The 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers is pure and precise, revealing aromas of pear, crisp green apple, mint and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, with racy acids and a saline finish, it will age with grace.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPA hint of reduction shaves the high notes from the otherwise pretty citrus, pear and soft floral scents. There is less volume but notably better refinement to the delicious, vibrant and well-detailed flavors that possess a suave mouthfeel while delivering fine length on the clean, bright and balanced finale that isn’t quite as complex, at least not yet.Burghound | 91 BH

Once again there is a coolness to the pure and pretty aromas of various white orchard fruit, floral and subtle lemon zest wisps. There is excellent density to the rich and powerful medium weight plus flavors that conclude in a bone-dry, youthfully austere and impressively long finish. Like several wines in the range, this will need to develop better depth to merit my rating but that should reasonably occur in time.Burghound | 92 BHThe 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot reveals aromas of pear, white flowers, freshly baked bread and beeswax, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and fleshy palate that’s vibrant and layered. This year, it includes Les Fairendes, which is sometimes bottled separately.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

Unusually supple and charming for a young wine from this site, the 2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeots Rouge reveals notes of plums, rose petals, smoke and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, giving and open-knit palate.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPA restrained and slightly somber nose features notes of pepper, cherry, raspberry and more prominent earth influence. The delicious medium weight flavors possess a fleshy, plump and round mouthfeel while exhibiting fine depth and persistence on the mildly rustic finish. While this well-made effort could also be enjoyed young, a few years of cellaring should be beneficial.Burghound | 90 BH

The Menetou-Salon from Kevin and Karine Lauverjat is a fine bottle that really shows the bright, cooler vintage characteristics of 2021. The bouquet offers up a complex blend of limepeel, gooseberry, fresh-cut grass, a lovely base of flinty minerality and a topnote of citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied, complex and nicely grassy in personality, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil signature, a good spine of acidity and impressive length and grip on the well-balanced finish. Good juice. (Drink between 2023 - 2030)John Gilman | 91 JG

The 2021 Vosne-Romanée Village is perfumed, floral and pure on the nose with wilted violet petals infusing the red fruit - très Vosne. The palate is silky smooth with a fine body. This sample is taken from a new barrel so it has some François Frères imprint on the finish, but there is appreciable focus and length.Vinous Media | 89-91 VMThis particular sample was pulled from a new barrel and not surprisingly, the wood influence was generous on the aromas of black raspberry, plum, exotic tea and star anise. The sleek and vibrant flavors are also not especially dense, but they do possess a more sophisticated texture while exhibiting very good length on the bitter pit fruit-inflected finish. This too should be relatively approachable young if you don’t wish to wait.Burghound | 89-91 BH

Lots of white pepper and crushed stone with some mineral undertones. Medium body. Bright acidity. Clean and crisp finish. Drink now.James Suckling | 91 JS

Light, shimmering orange. Displays mineral-inflected red berry and floral aromas, along with subtle peach and succulent herb flourishes. Shows fine definition and cut on the palate, offering fresh strawberry, cherry and tangerine flavors that deepen through the back half. Closes long and supple, with the floral and red fruit notes strongly repeatingVinous Media | 91 VM

Cool, pure and elegant aromas include those of honeysuckle, green apple and a pretty range of citrus elements. There is a bit more volume if less minerality to the medium weight flavors that deliver excellent length on the balanced if slightly less complex finale. This is also very good and offers similar development potential.Burghound | 91-93 BH

With a pretty, pale pink color and sweetly scented nose, the 2021 Rosa Dolce & Gabbana makes a lovely first impression. Ripe melon, Asian pear, mint and nuances of white smoke create an inviting bouquet. It’s round and elegant in feel, engulfing the palate in mineral-tinged orchard fruits and hints of chamomile. A salty flourish emerges through the finale, as notes of sour citrus and inner wet stone slowly fade. This is a total pleasure to taste. The Rosa Dolce & Gabbana is a blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nocera. Vinous Media | 91 VM