Wine Ratings

wines

The Beaux Monts from Hudelot-Noëllat is another level of richness and depth in 2022, with a pronounced mulberry and fig fruit aroma touched with earth, smoke and spice. The wine is dense and tannic, impressively muscular for this appellation. One can only imagine the secret is the old vines and judicious punching down; Van Canneyt farms 0.3 hectares at the top of the slope; otherwise, it is a cool terroir. The grapes were partially destemmed and firmly punched down before ageing in cask (25% new).Decanter Magazine | 95 DECRuby purple in colour, with an intensity on the nose well ahead of its predecessors. The Beaumonts goes into the mouth discreetly, then blossoms, offering summer pudding fruits with vivacious acidity, an excellent balance here. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMAromas of plums, red berries, orange zest, exotic spices and potpourri preface the 2022 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts, a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered wine with a concentrated core of fruit that’s framed by sweet, powdery tannins. It’s pure and complete.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPThe 2022 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaumonts 1er Cru has red and black fruit, plus a touch of shucked oyster shell and Japanese nori. Impressive delineation and focus. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a pretty and relatively delicate Les Beaumonts. It is sapid and quite linear, maybe needing a little more grip on the finish. Give it 3-4 years once in bottle. Again, I think this will gain weight during its élevage.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMA more deeply pitched and spicier, if perhaps slightly less elegant, nose is comprised by notes of exotic tea, sandalwood and an interesting hint of star anise. Here too the medium-bodied flavors possess a really lovely and sophisticated texture yet no lack of power on the intensely mineral-driven, dusty and youthfully austere finale. Excellent quality in an equally age-worthy package.Burghound | 91-94 BH

This exquisite wine has intense red and black fruit aromas with a floral edge and an almost salty savoury intensity. The texture is silky but tightly wound. It is commonly thought that the upper part of Suchots is superior, but this version gives that idea the lie. Here, the 100-year-old vines in the domaine’s 0.45-hectare parcel make the wine special, along with Van Caneyt’s very able winemaking. This wine should open well in three to five years and will undoubtedly last another 40 (at least) beyond that.Decanter Magazine | 97 DECThe 2022 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots is one of the highlights of the range this year. Wafting from the glass with aromas of plums, cassis, orange zest and exotic spices and framed by a deft application of new oak, it’s medium to full-bodied, concentrated and multidimensional, with terrific depth, velvety tannins and a long, broad finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-95 RPThe 2022 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru has an overtly floral bouquet with rose petals and violets complementing the red fruit. It’s vivacious as it was in barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy, succulent tannins and iodine touches. The finish needs a little more complexity and nerve. Tasted at the Stannary Wines dinner in London with Charles van Canneyt.Vinous Media | 92 VMOnce again the nose is wonderfully fresh and even spicier with its aromas of poached plum and liqueur-like dark pinot fruit that is also tinged with exotic tea wisps. There is noticeably better density to the caressing and seductively textured yet decided powerful flavors that brim with dry extract before concluding in a moderately austere and hugely long finale. This too is quite compact and very much built to repay extended keeping.Burghound | 92-94 BHA distinguished crimson purple. The oak is a little more apparent, and the fruit a riper, fleshier raspberry. Oak continues to take a hand but the fruit stays with it. Lower acidity in the Suchots, at least by taste. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JM

Fresh bright purple. What a radiant nose, all the heady joy of Vosne, such stylish bright ripe cherry fruit with some mixed red berries behind. Seamless texture and very long. Sheer class. Tasted Dec 2023.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMContaining 20% whole bunches, the 2022 Vosne-Romanée Village has a tightly wound and "correct" bouquet. It lets the Morey-Saint-Denis Village take the limelight at the moment, red and black fruit combined, a little more sous-bois than expected. The palate is medium-bodied with a core of lively, peppery red berry fruit, blood orange and a pinch of white pepper on the finish. A step up from the 2021, this will give a decade’s drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 89-91 VMAn overtly spicy nose is comprised by darker fruit that includes plum and black cherry along with violet and sandalwood hints. There is a really lovely texture to the caressing but punchy middleweight flavors that deliver equally good length on the youthfully austere and even more refined finale. This too is exceptionally good for its level.Burghound | 89-92 BH

Bize owns 2.1 hectares here, including a half-hectare of Chardonnay. The red has an explosive blackberry and wild strawberry fruit aroma with hints of fresh and dried flowers, earth, and cigar leaf. The texture is tannic and firm but less tightly-wound than the 2020s. Fermentation is done as whole clusters; the wine is aged in cask, with just 5 – 10% new. When finished, this delicious wine should be approachable earlier than some vintages have been.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECThe 2022 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Vergelesses 1er Cru has a complex and perhaps cerebral nose: dark berry fruit, black pepper, green tea and light scents of damp moss/forest floor. This unfurls beautifully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins framing gorgeous dark berry fruit, a little peppery in style, quintessentially Savigny with a very persistent finish. Everything you want from a Savigny Premier Cru (and more).Vinous Media | 93-95 VMHalf in a foudre, half in a barrel. Pale colour with a faint green streak. The reduction is keeping the wine tense, while the fruit on the palate is immediately engaging. Ripe limes, fresh apple, a certain sensuality behind, and an excellent long finish. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JMCool, fresh and bright aromas of red currant, cherry, warm earth and a hint of spice are trimmed in a plethora of floral elements. The rich, velvety and solidly voluminous flavors possess the best concentration in the range while displaying focused power on the firm, serious, moderately austere and very much built to age finale. This is a buy and forget it wine for at least 7 to 8 years.Burghound | 90-93 BH

A total of one hectare is planted in Fournaux. The vines from the top of the slope in stony soils are blended with those from the deeper clay at the base. All the grapes are fermented as whole clusters and are ageing in mainly used casks to create this wine with a bright mulberry and pomegranate fruit aroma underpinned by saline minerality and a hint of savoury game. The texture is firm with grippy tannins and good length.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2022 Savigny-lès-Beaune Aux Fournaux 1er Cru is more closed on the nose compared to the Grands Liards, yet it is still well-defined with black plum and bilberry fruit, intermingling with sous-bois and a touch of crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. It’s an elegant Savigny, not powerful, but armed with reassuring persistence on the white pepper-tinged finish. Lovely.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMAn even fresh purple. At first there is not much nose but a little fresh raspberry fruit begins to emerge. The Fournaux 2022 delivers a rounded raspberry and strawberry fruit across the palate with sterner tannins at the finish, and still a good acid balance. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JMMore somber, even brooding, aromas of various dark berries, warm earth and a touch of the sauvage enjoy a floral top note. There is notably better punch, though not better density, to the powerful and serious medium-bodied flavors that coat the palate with firm tannins on the built-to-age finale.Burghound | 89-91 BH

This opulent style starts out supple before chalky tannins take hold of its cherry, blackberry, earth and mineral flavors. Muscular, solid and dry, this lingers, offering a fruit- and oak spice–filled finish. Best from 2027 through 2045. 411 cases made, 15 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis had just been bottled shortly before my visit and, unsurprisingly, was displaying some reduction. More interesting are the rich, caressing and delicious medium-bodied flavors that are noticeably finer while exhibiting excellent power, focus, balance and length on the bitter pit fruit-inflected finish. This is textbook Bressandes.Burghound | 93 BH

Welcome to this smoky and flint Chablis masterpiece that’s only just beginning to reveal it’s enormous depths. Stunning balance and purity on the full-bodied but extraordinarily fresh palate. Great drive at the compact and very clean finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2023.James Suckling | 96 JSLike the Dame Nature Chablis, there is a touch of phenolic character lurking in the background of the aromas that blend white orchard, mineral reduction, shrimp shell with an interesting hint of something akin to a bitter almond nuance. There is again excellent mid-palate density to the very rich, even opulent, larger-bodied flavors that coat the palate with sappy dry extract on the firm, compact and built-to-age finale. At least some patience strongly advised as this is a relatively structured wine in the context of the 2022 vintage.Burghound | 91-94 BHThe 2020 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru spent 14 months in oak and stainless steel vat. It has a clean and precise bouquet with lime, orange pith and light stony aromas, perhaps missing a touch of flair yet it is clearly well defined and gains intensity with time. The palate is well balanced with an ever so slightly honeyed entry. Quite fierce, lightly spiced with hints of vanilla and almond, the only real shortcoming is that it seems to fade prematurely on the finishVinous Media | 90 VM

Fine lemon and lime colour. The bouquet is very alluring and signals a yellow fruit style. Guillaume thinks the plant material is earlier ripening here than in Vergers. The fruit is sunny, the finish remains all lemons and limes. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JMThe 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes 1er Cru has an impressive sense of delineation and poise on the nose, yellow fruit commingling with sea spray and linseed aromas, and a touch of chai tea. The palate is well-balanced with a fine line of acidity, taut and fresh with subtle stem ginger notes towards the Meursault-like finish. Good potential.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM

The 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vergers 1er Cru has more intensity and tension than the Chenevottes, greater mineralité coming through with aeration. The palate is taut and sapid, with satisfying mid-palate weight and a grippy finish boding well for bottle maturation. One to watch.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Levrons has a very fine bouquet with real tension. A slight reduction is well-played (apparently, it comes from the clay-limestone soils). The palate is well-balanced with impressive depth and grip, a subtle nutty/fumé element, and quite a persistent finish. Not one to be ignored, but I would give it 3-4 years in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMEarly picking here. Pale in colour. An attractive bouquet with spring flowers. Plenty of energy on the palate, a lime thread running through the middle, elegant and fairly long. In fact, the fruit keeps coming back. Fine-boned. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 90-92 JM

This village-level appellation enjoys a prime position just underneath the premier crus Perrières. In 2022, the grapes delivered a charming wine with forward aromas of lemon peel, flint and flowers. The texture is fresh and lively, and there is considerable extract that draws it out to an impressive finish, particularly for a village wine. The grapes are from 1.17 hectares at the northern edge of the climat; they are crushed and firmly pressed before fermenting in cask (15% new) to produce this delicious wine.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Nosroyes has a similar reduction to the Les Levrons, focused and perhaps even more concentrated. The palate is well-balanced with impressive depth. There’s not quite the mineralité of a Premier Cru, but ample concentration with a lively, spicy finish. Delicious.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMPale lemon in colour. The bouquet is open and expressive, slightly more in fresh orchard fruit than floral, but with a pleasing elegance. There is just a little more intensity on the palate, with a racy fresh fruit quality and good length. A little fuller bodied all the way through, and keeps on going. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JM

Grown on red soil on hard limestone, planted partly in 1985 and mostly in 1995 at 14,000 vines per hectare. There’s a smoky touch to this, reminding me of my childhood overheated Scalextric set. This apart, the Clos du Meix offers linear intensity, fresh apple, a slight bitterness behind, then kicks on to a concentrated finish. Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 92 JMModerately firm reduction renders the nose impossible to assess. More interesting are the caressing, delicious and more subtly mineral-driven flavors that deliver fine persistence on the compact, youthfully austere and built-to-age finale. Once again, this is very good though a wine that’s also going to need at least a few years of keeping.Burghound | 91 BH

The 2022 Chablis Vau de Vey 1er Cru is very composed on the nose with white peach, Vervane and light waxy scents. Fine delineation. The palate has a sapid entry, quite a keen line of acidity, fresh and marine-influence. A light tang of oyster shell emerges on the finish. Very classy.Vinous Media | 92 VMCooler notes here, as expected from the steep, east-facing slopes of Vaudevey. Decidedly more edgy, with a touch of smoke balanced by ripe fruit on the palate, which is almost tropical in character. A very good end result that’s both classy and complex.Decanter Magazine | 92 DECMore lime than lemon. A very clean and pure bouquet, less grassy. This fattens out well on the palate with a little more grip than the Jean-Marc Brocard version, though one can see a family resemblance. Tasted Jun 2023.Jasper Morris | 91-92 JM

Here is another masterpiece from vintner Martino Manetti (and winemaker Paolo Salvi, following in the footsteps of long-time key figures Giulio Gambelli and Estate Manager Bruno Bini). The Montevertine 2022 Le Pergole Torte is 100% Sangiovese made in a similar winemaking style as the others, although both botte and barrique are used here. It opens to a dark garnet appearance that is velvety and rich yet shiny on the inside with a ruby brightness that is specific to this Tuscan grape. This is an amazing wine, so precise and balanced. I love the boldness of the vintage, and I am delighted by how elegantly it unfolds over the palate. The wine is contoured and pretty in terms of texture, and yet there are mineral notes that add freshness and vertical lift. This portfolio offers good scale with three wines, an entry-level, middle-level and top-end wine, each offering a distinct identity. Production is 30,000 bottles. This is one of my favorite wines from 2022, a vintage with highs and lows. This is definitely a high.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPA spicy and deep wine with licorice and bergamot aromas. The fruit is bright and layered, with plums and red cherries. But it’s on the palate where you feel the quality of this wine. It’s full-bodied with ripe, velvety tannins and long, refreshing acidity. Polished aftertaste. Made for the long haul, but also very drinkable now. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2022 Le Pergole Torte is every bit as magnificent as it was last year. Deep and expansive in the glass, with stunning depth, the 2022 stains the palate with layers of dark fruit, mocha, new leather and cedar. The 2022 starts to blossom with just a bit of time in the glass, leading to a finish that explodes on the back end. As has been the case for some time, the differences between Montevertine and Pergole Torte are increasingly mostly about style. The 2022 spent a year in Damy French oak barrels followed by a second year in cask. It will require a number of years to shed some baby fat to be at its most expressive.Vinous Media | 97+ VM

Complex smoky and nutty character, excellent concentration with a wonderful mineral acidity that keeps this very bright through the long, multilayered finish. No hint of anything exotic or overly ripe in spite of the ample depth.James Suckling | 96 JS

A mix of Dundee Hills and Eola-Amity, Latch Key Vineyard in the Dundee Hills is at a lower elevation, and then Koosah is a higher elevation site. It’s a barrel selection with such great stony lemon minerality. Aged sur lie for 11 months—only 15% new oak. Jackson does more leaf removal for Chardonnay than he did; he finds more texture in the skins, which makes a linear and lithe Chardonnay with wildflower aromas, crushed stone and apricot skin. Partial malo allows him to get more freshness, and he uses thicker staves to get the reduction he wants without going to stainless.Decanter Magazine | 94 DEC

This is the benchmark for (tank fermented, pure) Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc. The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc has sweet green pea, green apple skins, juniper, rosemary, a hint of nashi pear and layers of jasmine tea and spice. This is, as usual, very fine and spicy, with purity and textural complexity side by side. Pear skin. Pretty.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPVery fresh nose with a wide spectrum of aromas, ranging from forthrightly grassy and fresh-basil notes to gooseberry, grapefruit and passion fruit, this is a juicy and elegant Adelaide Hills sauvignon blanc. Long, racy finish. Drink now. Screw cap.James Suckling | 93 JS

The 2022 Rioja Blanco bottling from Sandra Bravo’s Bodega Sierra de Toloño is composed entirely from Viura (albeit, with a bit of Tempranillo Blanco co-planted in the vineyard). Ten percent of the cuvée is raised in oak, with the remainder in stainless steel and the wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a precise and complex mix of tart pear, lemon, salty soil tones, white flowers and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, young and full-bodied, with lovely depth at the core, good soil signature, zesty acids and fine focus and balance on the long and nascently complex finish. This is quite tasty out of the blocks, but will gain in complexity with some time in the cellar. (Drink between 2023 - 2040)John Gilman | 91+ JG

The 2022 Vino Bianco Leukò bursts from the glass with a wild aromatic display of ground ginger, incense, dried peaches and sour melon. It’s soft and enveloping with a pleasant inner sweetness up front and zesty acidity as floral-laced white pit fruits and candied citrus tones cascade throughout. The palate is left reeling, watering for more, as a perfumed floral air dissipates over tropical kiwi hints. This is Leukò on steroids. It’s a blend of 70% Greco Bianco and 30% Gaglioppo, vinified white.Vinous Media | 92 VM

Piuze’s 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is a powerful, muscular wine, mingling notions of orange and mandarin with toasted nuts, dried white flowers and iodine in an incipiently complex bouquet. Full-bodied, broad and layered, with notable structuring dry extract and a long, resonant finish, it’s quintessential Les Clos.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

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