Wine Ratings

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Crushed stone and green apple mingle on the nose that rests against a wall of baby’s breath and muddled white blossom. The steely palate accentuates purity of fruit while elevating freshness on the finish that is lifted by a nervy layer of acidity. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2023 Chablis “Vaillons” from Domaine William Fèvre is another absolutely classic expression of this fine premier cru vineyard. The bouquet is bright and complex, wafting from the glass in a lovely mix of lemon, pink grapefruit, anise, citrus peel, chalky minerality, white flowers and a gentle topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied and focused, with a great core of fruit, lovely bounce and grip, seamless balance and a long, mineral-driven and complex finish. First class Vaillons! (Drink between 2028-2055)John Gilman | 93 JGSourced from a sunny, precocious site that is typically among the first to be harvested, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons delivers aromas of beeswax, orange oil, pear and honeysuckle. Full-bodied, enveloping and charming, it is underpinned by ripe yet vibrant acidity and concludes with a saline finish, reflecting the personality of the warm vintage. The wine is derived from 3.5 hectares, the majority of which lies within Vaillons proper.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RPLinear in profile, yet with a fleshy texture enveloping flavors of lemon cake, yellow plum and apple. There’s an underlying flintiness that, coupled with the acidity, brings clarity to the citrus-tinged aftertaste. Excellent length. Drink now through 2033. 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe 2023 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has much more composure than the Montmains, more harmonious and poised. Light sea spray scents mixed with Crustacea come through with aeration. The palate is well balanced with fine delineation, quite linear and malic with a concentrated finish. I prefer this to the Montmains this year.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMAn exuberantly fresh nose features notes of essence of apple, sea breeze, pink grapefruit and oyster shell. The delicious, fleshy and solidly concentrated medium weight flavors deliver good if not truly special length on the lightly stony, balanced and bitter lemon-inflected finale. This is sufficiently rich to allow for early accessibility but it also has the stuffing to repay 6 to 10 years of cellaring.Burghound | 89-91 BHMid lemon yellow. A little headier in bouquet than the Montmains, balanced by a reductive note. Richer than usual for Vaillons but still with some balance. A little youthful bitterness. Not quite in place today. Drink from 2026-2033. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JM

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet “Boudriotte” from Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard is not quite as buttoned up behind its structure as the lovely la Grande Montagne, but it too is going to need a couple of years in the cellar before drinking in earnest. The wine offers up a lovely bouquet of apple, lime, wet stone minerality, a touch of almond, vanillin oak and a Ramonet-like hint of peppermint in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep. full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with a fine core, lovely acids and grip and a long, well balanced and zesty finish. Fine juice. (Drink between 2029-2060)John Gilman | 93 JGThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte 1er Cru comes from lower down the slope. It has a taut and fresh bouquet—a little austere at first—but gradually reveals its energy. The palate is well balanced with a brisk, edgy opening and citrus-fresh orange zest notes toward the penetrating finish. This has great potential. I can imagine it marrying perfectly with fruits de mer.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMThis is also quite firmly reduced though here too there is both good freshness and vibrancy to the slightly bigger-bodied and more powerful, if less mineral-driven, flavors that also offer acceptable depth and persistence though here, the finish isn’t as awkward. Again, I attribute the slight lack of harmony to the very recent bottling.Burghound | 91 BH

I drink Chassagne “Caillerets” so seldom these days, but there was a time when I was a wine merchant that I probably drank wines from this beautiful premier cru more often than any other in the Côte de Beaune. So, I am always delighted to taste a great example, as is the 2023 from the Fontaine family. The wine is young and still a touch reductive on the nose, but with swirling reveals a beautiful bouquet of lime, pear, apple, a gorgeously complex base of chalky minerality, a hint of fresh almond, spring flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure, full-bodied and mineral-driven, with a great core of fruit, superb girdle of acidity, laser-like focus and a very long, complex and racy finish. This wine has perfect balance. (Drink between 2030-2070)John Gilman | 95 JGThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets 1er Cru has a very harmonious bouquet, fine mineralité and terroir expression and touches of oyster shell infusing the citrus fruit. The palate is well balanced with a rounded texture. There’s a fine silver bead of acidity here, a little richer in style, fanning out marvelously on the finish. This is excellent.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMSmoky and vaguely exotic aromas include those of white peach, passion fruit, citrus confit and a hint of wet stone. There is evident minerality to the delicious middle weight flavors that possess a lovely texture before delivering excellent length on the balanced finale that, once again, could use better depth. One to consider. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 92 BH

Forward aromas of lemon peel, green apple and pear are accented with flint, chalk and spice notes. The texture is lively and taut, and the tension draws the wine to a dynamic finish. The grapes are from a 0.33ha plot on the right bank, very near the grands crus in thin, stony soils over a compact layer of Kimmeridgian – classic Chablis. Benoît Droin says of this wine, ’it’s not to drink, it’s to wait 15 years’, but wine lovers will be forgiven for jumping the gun.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent offers up aromas of white peach, flowers and oyster shells, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered palate that’s suave and ethereal, with racy acids and a saline finish. This is especially good in 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RPThe 2023 Chablis Vaulorent 1er Cru has a vibrant, minerally bouquet with a sea spray/oyster shell scent that becomes more intense with aeration. Very precise. The palate is smooth on the entry, very detailed with a fine bead of acidity, subtle praline and chai notes towards the elegant and seductive finish. Not long term perhaps, but beautifully crafted.Vinous Media | 93 VMAs with the Montmains, a discreet application of wood sets off ripe orchard fruit, especially pear, suffused with oyster shell, lemon zest and cool floral wisps. There is fine density to the intense and succulent medium weight flavors that deliver very good persistence on the citrusy, balanced and sappy finale. As it often is chez Droin, this is really quite stylish if perhaps slightly more forward than it usually is. Either way, it is lovely.Burghound | 92 BHBenoît uses 30% barrel vinification here with younger wood given the intrinsic power of Vaulorent. Lots of stones show in the nose. After this austere start there is a wealth of richer white fruit, infused with minerals, leading to a generous finish without any tropical notes. This should develop into a classic. Drink from 2027-2035. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JM

The Vaulorent from Fèvre is more mineral than its Montée de Tonnerre, if a bit less lush, with aromas of lime peel, mirabelle plum, and passion fruit. The texture is chiselled and concentrated, with layers of tightly wound extract and a dense, chalky finish. The grapes are from 3.6ha in Vaulorent, which is part of Fourchaume but located on the side of the grands crus. Winemaker Didier Séguier chooses his favourite blocks for this bottling and crafts a ’classic’ Fourchaume from the rest. Fermentation is done in older casks for 40-50% of the grapes. (Drink between 2030-2060)Decanter Magazine | 95 DECSourced from the upper part of the climat and planted with 40- to 60-year-old vines, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent wafts from the glass with a deep bouquet of lemon oil, white flowers, orange peel, peach, pear and a delicate reductive signature. Medium- to full-bodied, concentrated and layered, it is framed by ample, chalky structuring extract and racy acidity, concluding with a persistent, saline finish. This is a terrific performer once again.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RPA bit more vertical than the more complete, rounder Fauchaume. This shows a touch of smoky, flinty stones with slightly crisper acidity. Lots of brightness with a saline, pithy finish. It challenges you a bit more with slightly more austerity perhaps. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSThe 2023 Chablis “Vaulorent” from Domaine William Fèvre is outstanding. The wine’s bouquet is bright and complex, hopping from the glass in a mix of lime, pear, green apple, chalky minerality, a touch of anise and a lovely floral topnote redolent of citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and shows off superb depth of fruit at the core, with great mineral drive and cut, snappy acids and outstanding length and grip on the complex and racy finish. A classic in the making! (Drink between 2030-2060)John Gilman | 94+ JGDistinctive, this white is downright spicy, featuring flavors of peppery greens, lemon, lime zest and mineral, plus a hint of white pepper. Well-defined and balanced, with a long, stony finish. Best from 2026 through 2038. 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSGreen apple, bosc pear and white peach skin aromas merge in the glass accentuated by hints of dried herbs and bread dough. The palate elevates fresh orchard fruit, toasted lemon peel and crushed wet stone. Pair with grilled-cheese toast and lentil soup.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WERipe, fresh and pretty aromas are comprised by notes of the essence of white fleshed fruit, especially peach and pear, along with hints of acacia, mineral reduction and algae. There is a bit more volume to the highly seductive and caressing medium-bodied flavors that retain good underlying tension that also suffuses the balanced, youthfully austere and slightly firmer finish. Worth considering.Burghound | 92 BHPale but glowing, a note of citron confit, an additional depth compared to the Fourchaume. More flesh but perfectly proportioned, fine and elegant, and very long indeed. This should be first class. Flavours will absolutely not go away! As much yellow as white but balanced. Drink from 2028-2036. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JMThe 2023 Chablis Vaulorent 1er Cru has a mineral-driven bouquet–oyster shells and a touch of petrichor, quite intense. The palate is well balanced with a pleasant "bite" on the entry. A twist of sour lemon imparts tension and gets the saliva flowering. Fine weight on the finish, this should age well in bottle.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

Here too the lightly wooded nose displays a panoply of floral nuances that include rose petal, lilac and acacia blossom with additional notes of just grated zest, spice, and green apple. There is almost painful intensity to the slightly more concentrated and more mineral-driven flavors that conclude in a chiseled, youthfully austere and sneaky long finale that seems to go on and on. The Clos de la Mouchère is always excellent but in 2024, it is genuinely stunning.Burghound | 96 BHMid yellow. There is a little touch of patisserie on the nose, showing the additional breadth of fruit on Henri Boillot’s favourite vineyard. That’s what gives the gourmandise to the wine, says Henri. This seems to have all the aspects with an excellent mineral backbone holding the fruit together. Lime blossom and acacia he finds, from the adjacent trees which flower at the same time. Very fine long finish. Drink from 2030-2036. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JM

The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet 1er Cru comes from a single hectare block. The aromatics leap from the glass with vivacious citrus peel, crushed stone and white flower scents that are beautifully defined. The palate has exquisite balance, a shimmering line of acidity and wonderful poise with a persistent, subtly spiced creamy texture on the finish. I thought the 2023 was outstanding…the 2024 could be even better.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMThe 2024 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ Canet has turned out very nicely, offering up a reductive bouquet of pear, baking spices, sweet citrus oil, toasted nuts and struck match. Medium- to full-bodied, satiny and suave, with a layered core and a mineral finish, it will offer a broad drinking window.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPA faint green tint. Very slightly reductive. A little more perfumed afterwards, so there is certainly adequate ripeness here. Fairly generous on the palate, complex, and needing more time. Drink from 2030-2035. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JM

The Puligny Garenne has not fallen clear after a recent stirring. This blocks the nose a little, while nourishing the palate which has impressive depth and length. A little lemony note to the acidity. Probably not a typical note but clearly a promising wine. Drink from 2029-2034. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JMThe 2024 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru La Garenne offers up aromas of apple, pear and fresh mint, followed by a medium-bodied, delicate and fine-boned palate.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPThe 2024 Puligny-Montrachet La Garenne 1er Cru from the top of the slope has a pretty nose with light orange blossom and apricot scents unfolding with aeration. The palate is leesy on the entry, fine weight, not quite the same tension as some of the other Premier Crus but there is satisfying length. Probably one of the earlier drinking cuvées from Sauzet.Vinous Media | 88-90 VM

The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru comes from a single block towards the north part of the vineyard. There is a lovely smokiness on the nose, crushed stone and light sea spray scents deftly translating the pedigree of Combettes. The palate is fresh and sapid on the entry. This is nicely detailed, citrus-fresh towards the finish that lingers in the mouth. It is a Puligny that you really appreciate in retrospect and tempts you back for another sip. The 2023 was great…likewise the follow-up.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMThe 2024 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes is lovely, offering up aromas of honeyed orchard fruits, toasted nuts, white flowers and deftly judged reduction, followed by a full-bodied, ample and satiny palate with exceptional volume and density for the vintage, concluding with a long and expansive finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-95 RPMid lemon yellow. A little touch of biscuit on the nose, then a broad swathe of white orchard fruit. Combettes likes a year with a bit more water and this shows in the quality of the 2024. Just the right trace of acidity at the back to keep this in balance, while we benefit from the broad brush of the fruit. Drink from 2030-2036. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 93-95 JM

The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet les Folatières En la Richards 1er Cru was an absolute knockout last year. This vintage is definitely impressive with fine tension and mineralité, a sense of gusto and purpose that shaded the preceding Truffières. The palate is taut and fresh with a keen line of acidity. Detailed with a clever reduction that surfaces on the finish but never defines this wine, this seems very persistent and will repay cellaring. Superb.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMThe 2024 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières En la Richarde opens in the glass with a generous bouquet of ripe citrus fruits, peach, toasted nuts and honey. Medium- to full-bodied, satiny and suave, it’s deep and layered, with a pleasing sense of completeness and a long finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPPale colour with a faint lime streak. Plenty of tension, more a limestone feel, perhaps less ripe, evidently a little stricter. Quite generous fruit on the palate, even a suggestion of bacon fat, and notable length. This is one of the more backward wines in the stable, but with potential. Needs time. Drink from 2031-2037. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JM

The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts is richer and more muscular than the Perrières, offering up reductive aromas of pear, sweet citrus fruits and spices. Medium- to full-bodied, layered and satiny, it’s deep and textural, with good persistence on the saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPThe 2024 Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts 1er Cru takes a little time to unfurl on the nose, eventually offering light walnut and flinty aromas that pin it down as Puligny. The palate is well balanced with a twist of orange rind on the entry. Fine weight, very cohesive, this gains momentum and structure towards the finish. Quite a "solid" Puligny, one with substance, one that I would be inclined to cellar for three or four years. Great promise.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMPale lemon yellow with a faint green tint. The bouquet shows proximity to Meursault with a little more flesh. A little touch of biscuity oak. More volume in the mouth, just a little less mineral but still there is a fine vigorous aftertaste. Drink from 2030-2034. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JM

Aromas of nashi pear, orange peel, vanilla pod and flint preface the 2024 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, a medium- to full-bodied, taut and racy wine that is considerably concentrated for the vintage, culminating in a long, oak-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPProminent petrol nuances are present on the ripe and smoky mix of mineral reduction, acacia blossom, lemon-lime and ocean breeze are trimmed in subtle but not invisible wood. There is both better volume and a bit more punch as well to the utterly delicious flavors that deliver fine length on the balanced, dry and sleek finale. While this could use better depth, it’s very stylish, indeed the word classy comes to mind.Burghound | 90-93 BH30% oak component. A lively fresh lemon. Immediate personality without the super-succulence of the hotter years. A little smoky reduction. White orchard fruit with good energy behind, attractive kimmeridgian texture behind. Fine persistence. Drink from 2028-2033. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JMThe 2024 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru takes its time to open in the glass. Eventually, there’s more green fruit here, with touches of gooseberry, Conference pear and crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with a more delicate style. It’s quite strict, though a little spice emerges toward the finish. This is understated for a Montée de Tonnerre.Vinous Media | 88-90 VM

They were thinking about pulling this plot out but it has come through the wetter conditions of 2024 very well, so they may keep it going. Clean pale lemon. The bouquet is quite reticent. Concnetrated white fruit, plenty of energy here, the fruit well married with the oak, fair length. A little extra here in 2024. Drink from 2029-2033. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

The 2024 Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean 1er Cru is very aromatic and generous on the nose, with scents of white flowers, mirabelle and light beeswax aromas that blossom in the glass. The palate is very well balanced, with more body and depth than the Maltroie. Really good mineralité in this Clos Saint-Jean, very persistent in the mouth; this is exactly where the vintage excels in the Côte d’Or. Recommended.Vinous Media | 94 VMPale lemon colour. More biscuit than fruit at first on the nose, though ripe enough. First year for Rebichets replanting. A softer style of white fruit than Chenevottes. A little more depth to the colour, medium length, a little touch of acidity. Drink from 2028-2032. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

The 2024 Montée de Tonnerre had also been bottled in November of 2025. Guillaume Michel noted that they had almost fifty percent of normal yields in this vineyard in 2024, which was excellent by the draconian standards of the vintage. The wine is brilliant, offering up a deep and complex bouquet of lemon, pear, wet stone minerality, dried flowers and a topnote of orange peel. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and racy, with a gorgeous core of fruit, beautiful mineral drive, laser-like focus and a very, very long, perfectly balanced and complex finish. Great juice. (Drink between 2028-2060)John Gilman | 94 JGThe 2024 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre is more tightly knit and simultaneously slightly less demonstrative than Vaillons, exhibiting aromas of lemon confit, Granny Smith apple, orange peel and white flowers. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, concentrated and vibrant, with a tightly coiled profile and a long, chalky finish. It is one of Michel’s sites that suffered least from frost and hail in 2024.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90-92 RPThe 2024 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru has a well-defined bouquet with just a very light reduction, though there is slightly more mineralité compared to the Vaillons or Vaulorent. The palate is well balanced and cohesive, with a fine bead of acidity and a touch of sour lemon perking up the finish. The 2024 is worth looking out for.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMA classic Chablis nose freely offers up its combination of citrus, iodine, mineral reduction, white flower and a background whiff of phenolic character. The notably denser middle weight flavors possess good volume and a succulent mouthfeel before terminating in a dry, youthfully austere and impressively persistent finale. This is really quite classy and one to consider buying.Burghound | 90-93 BHMid lemon yellow. Remarkably lactic on the nose. Flesh on the nose, and a biscuity touch, I would definitely have said oaked if tasted blind. Lacks a bit of energy behind. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 88-90 JM

The 2024 Chassagne-Montrachet Maltroie 1er Cru has a very aromatic and quite floral bouquet, with enticing scents of yellow flower mixed with wild peach and just a hint of acacia in the background. The palate is well balanced with a pleasing texture, a little pithiness coming through, a dash of ginger complementing the dried apricot and orange pith notes. Fine weight on the finish, with more persistence than the Village cru, this should give up to 15 years’ drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 92 VMPale lemon, a little tension on the nose, some waxed and candied citrus, a little biscuit once again, medium weight, with attractive length. Drink from 2028-2032. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 90 JM

The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru is clearly more complex and mineral-led compared to the Les Levrons, demonstrating the difference between Village and Premier Cru. The palate is balanced and pretty, veins of apricot and wild peach lending character and charm, a dash of spice perking up the finish. Lovely.Vinous Media | 92 VMFrom the upper part of Folatières. Pale lemon yellow. Not very forthcoming but one senses there is some more present below the surface. Fullish white fruit, a slight sucrosity, then some oak to finish. This may just be sleeping at the moment. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 92 JM

The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux has good intensity on the nose, a touch of struck match complementing the citrus fruit, with just a little reduction that should play out nicely with bottle age. The palate is well balanced with fine acidity and well integrated oak that lends ballast to the mid-palate. Gentle grip, just a hint of creaminess towards the finish, this is a lovely Puligny to savour over the next decade. (Drink between 2027-2037)Vinous Media | 91 VM

Once again the recent bottling is present in the form of enough reduction to overshadow the fruit but not the wood toast. More interesting are the gorgeously textured, if not super-dense, flavors that possess a succulent mouthfeel along with good power on the lingering and well-balanced finale. Like several wines in the range, this would benefit from developing better depth.Burghound | 92 BH

This is also sufficiently reduced to be impossible to properly read though it shouldn’t last as it’s really more due to post-bottling sulfur. No matter, more interesting are the finer but not denser middle weight flavors that possess a generous mouthfeel along with a certain reserve that becomes more apparent on the sneaky long, balanced and notably dry finale. While clearly still a bit awkward from the recent bottling, I like the potential.Burghound | 91 BH

An elegant and expressive nose is comprised by a plentitude of floral elements along with hints of zest, apple, spice and a whiff of exotic tea. The racy and beautifully detailed medium weight flavors exude evident minerality on the moderately austere, compact and impressively persistent finale. This is both lovely and very classy.Burghound | 93 BH