Wine Varietals

wines

Grapes for the 2023 Chardonnay Russian River Valley were harvested over the course of a month, from initial picks on September 13 to the last pick on October 14. It was barrel-fermented, underwent full malolactic conversion and was matured for 12 months in 10% new French oak barrels. It has open, inviting aromas of stone fruit and pineapple, panna cotta, ginger, toasted brioche and honey. The palate combines concentrated, layered flavors with fireworks of fresh acidity, and it has a very long, perfumed finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPSourced from Lafranchi, Westside Farms, Sonoma Foothills, Martinelli Laughlin, Kilcullen, Dutton Sebastopol, and Frank Johnson—all cool-climate sites with low-vigour soils such as Goldridge loam, planted between 1978 and 2017 and aged for 12 months on the lees in barrel (10% new French oak). This is clean and sleek, a beautifully balanced medium-bodied Chardonnay with luxuriously ripe stone and orchard fruit. Exotic baking spices complement layers of guava, white peach, and macerated mango with apricot. But what’s most impressive is the intensity and purity of the fruit—so precisely delineated, profoundly spicy, and laser-focused. At $50, this is one of the finest, most balanced, and well-structured Chardonnays from the Russian River Valley at this price point.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECLeaps out of the glass with intensity, offering vibrant fruit flavors of crisp Meyer lemon, apple and pear. Aromatic details of tangerine, lime sherbet and lemon blossoms add complexity alongside fresh herbal accents of lemon balm and sweetgrass. Crushed rock minerality lingers on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2039. 13,549 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSEnergetic acidity and ample fruit flavors give this full-bodied wine a sense of strength and structure. After a blast of green apple, pine bough and citrus aromas, an array of subtle baking spice, ripe pear and baked apple flavors come out as you sip. Drink now.James Suckling | 94 JS

The 2023 Clos des Chevaliers from Domaine Chartron was one of the most brilliant wines I tasted during my entire nearly three weeks in the cellars here in Burgundy. The wine is utterly brilliant on both the nose and palate, with the bouquet offering up a pure, beautifully complex and elegant blend of apple, pear, fresh almond, crème pâtissière, a complex foundation of limestone minerality, lemon blossoms, a refined framing of vanillin oak and a topnote of lemon zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and seamlessly balanced, with a great spine of acidity, a gorgeous core of fruit, great mineral drive and cut and a very, very long, vibrant finish. Pure magic. (Drink between 2030 - 2075)John Gilman | 98 JGThe delicious Clos du Chevalier is the top wine in the Chartron cellar, boasting intense aromas of lemon peel, mandarin and passionfruit, with nuances of acacia flower and a pronounced saline minerality. The texture is lively and vibrant but rich as well, with a superb balance between the extract and the racy acidity. The clos, a former monopole of the Chartron family, is above the Montrachet from Marquis de Laguiche; although they sold 0.16ha to Lalou Bize-Leroy for its Domaine d’Auvenay, Chartron still owns a half-hectare of Chevalier here. Cellar this for at least a decade before opening.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe 2023 Chevalier-Montrachet Clos de Chevaliers Grand Cru is Charton’s best Grand Cru this year. Intense and flattering citrus fruit notes commingle with crushed stone and light undergrowth scents blossoming in the glass. The palate is fresh, vibrant, beautifully balanced and very harmonious with a long and tender finish. Cohesive and multi-layered, très bon vin!Vinous Media | 95-97 VMAn attractive pale colour with a lime streak. Pure and stylish on the nose, with the white limestone feel of classic Chevalier. The bouquet will express itself more later on, I suspect. On the palate, the terroir also reverberates, with a very fine-boned acidity alongside the nuanced white fruit and flowers, with just a little well-judged oak bringing up the rear. A high-class finish. Very distinguished. Drink from 2030-2037. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMA markedly more floral-suffused nose speaks of distinctly cool white orchard fruit aromas, mineral reduction, Asian-style tea and a lovely range of spice nuances. The gorgeously textured and notably denser medium weight plus flavors exude a prominent stoniness on the sappy bitter citrus-tined finale that goes on and on. Like the Clos du Cailleret, the mouthfeel is like sucking on a small pebble and overall, this superb Chevalier should amply reward extended cellaring.Burghound | 92-95 BH

Fantastic depth and length to this wine, showing aromas and flavors of sliced apples, stone, flint,matchstick and white pepper. It’s full-bodied and reserved, with very fine layers of bright fruit and minerals. Tight, structured and compact with a long finish. Already impressive, but best after 2027.James Suckling | 98 JSOpulent, creamy and expansive, this white fills the mouth, offering peach, apple, quinine and salty mineral flavors embraced by vanilla and toasty oak notes. There’s a tactile sensation, and this still lacks integration, yet all of the components are there, along with power and length. Best from 2027 through 2042. 3,800 cases made, 1,400 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSLatour’s 2023 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru wafts from the glass with notes of pear, mandarin oil and peach mingled with notes of struck match and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and seamless, it’s rich and textural, with a sweet, layered core of fruit and an expansive finish. Now bottled under Diam, it should age with grace.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPCool, pretty and attractively layered aromas include those of Granny Smith apple, spice, wet stone and a plentitude of citrus elements. There is both more volume and richness to the bigger-bodied flavors that exhibit good power on the balanced, sappy and moderately firm finale. This also could use better depth but that should develop in time.Burghound | 90-93 BH

Sourced from Pisoni Vineyard and brought up 16 months in 60% new French oak, the 2023 Chardonnay East Of Eden Pisoni Vineyard is light to medium gold-hued and offers exotic stone fruits, honeyed melon, spice, and some minty, herbal notes. Medium to full-bodied, it has a pure, layered crystalline mouthfeel, integrated acidity, and a fabulous finish. It’s a rich, powerful, serious Chardonnay that will keep for 8-10 years. Drink 2025-2035.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe 2023 Chardonnay Pisoni Vineyard East of Eden is notably fresh for a Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands, where Chardonnay can tend to lack energy. A wine of deep mineral intensity and phenolic grip, the 2023 speaks firmly, with powerful inner tension and nerve lends a ton of textural intrigue. Lemony, chalky lift enlivens the finish. Another excellent 2023 white from Paul Lato.Vinous Media | 94 VM

From the Sierra Madre Vineyard in Santa Maria and aged 16 months in 65% new French oak, the 2023 Chardonnay Le Souvenir Sierra Madre Vineyard delivers Chassagne-Montrachet minerality and white flowers, with beautiful stone and citrus fruits. Medium-bodied, it has a vibrant, pure, focused mouthfeel and salty minerality on the finish. It’s another incredibly classy, pure, seamless Chardonnay from Lato that does everything right. Drink 2025-2032.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2023 Chardonnay Sierra Madre Vineyard Le Souvenir has great energy and vibrancy, marrying the reductive, flinty house style with a wash of salty acidity that enlivens the palate. Chamomile, mango, mint and sweet cream unfurl in a voluptuous, full-bodied Chardonnay with real sensuality.Vinous Media | 95 VM

Dill, limes, green ginger and crushed stones on the nose. The palate is extreme, marked by intense mineral tension, pronounced salinity and a delicious severity that sets this wine apart from even the greatest chardonnays of the world. Incredibly fresh and mouthwatering. Spectacular. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2023 Chardonnay Adrianna Vineyard White Bones from Gualtallary, Tupungato, opens with clear notes of huacatay, chamomile and hops. It’s reminiscent of reductive Sauvignon Blanc and layered with green apple, mint and nutty notes. Compared to previous vintages, this is leaner and more vibrant, with fine, chalky grip and medium body. Just a gorgeous wine.Vinous Media | 98 VMThe 2023 Adrianna Vineyard Chardonnay White Bones leads with its quintessentially lifted, vibrant bouquet of citrus rinds, dried spices, white flowers and fresh herbs, continuously developing additional complexity from its biological aging under flor. The palate combines live-wire focus with ethereal richness and a gently creamy core that runs through its mouthwatering and mineral-drenched finish. A fantastic iteration of the exotic, precise profile readers have come to expect from this pioneering Gualtallary Chardonnay reference point.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPOne for the ages from an ageworthy vintage, the 2023 Chardonnay Adrianna Vineyard White Bones is textured, layered, and herbaceous, as all the White Bones wines are. Native thyme accents a medium-bodied, persistently fresh character of lemon crisp that’s complex and lengthy. The oak is well-integrated already, adding to the balanced structure and mouthfeel. This has 20-30 years more to go, with an ideal drinking window of 2030-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThere’s personality and energy to this white that just won’t quit. Opens with aromatically engaging notes of sage, river mint and lime zest that meld seamlessly into a core of green mango, finger lime and passion fruit. The body shows a silky richness, yet without the typical weighty lees or oak flavors, instead building intensity around tense minerality. Picks up a hint of pickled ginger on the lengthy, expressive finish. Drink now through 2040. 500 cases made, 215 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The 2023 Chardonnay (Napa Valley) is a total stunner. Lemon confit, white flowers, tangerine peel, baked apple tart and lightly honeyed notes fill out the layers effortlessly. This large-scale, layered Chardonnay is exceptionally elegant and polished. Readers will find a Chardonnay of tremendous textural breadth and pedigree.Vinous Media | 96 VM

A tangy and fresh wine with intense flavors of sliced apples, lemons and limes. Medium-bodied with very fine phenolics for a Wente clone chardonnay, giving it length and structure. Complex and refined. Minerally, with a botanical character almost like a gin and tonic. Dense on the mid-palate. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 97 JSA straw yellow color, the 2023 Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge offers more depth on the nose, with more polished notes of baking spice, frangipane, lemon curd, beeswax, and melon. The palate is full-bodied, with a bright and persistent spine of acidity that carves through its more supple ripe texture, it has a mouthwatering, salty finish. It’s tightly wound and needs another 6-12 months in bottle. Drink 2026-2038. For my taste, I would drink the Sonoma Coast bottling over this, but it’s certainly exceptional and impossible to deny.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDLayered and lifted, this vintage of Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge is a striking expression of its far-coast origin - a stunning estate in one of the most rugged landscapes of the West Sonoma Coast. It opens with a touch of a welcome flintiness and subtle sweet white florals. Notes of saline-dried seaweed and perfumed mandarin peel bring brightness and tension, cutting through richer tones of twice-baked almond croissant and a drizzle of honey. The palate is generous, medium to full-bodied, with a well-balanced mix of citrus and baking spices, beautifully complemented by its coastal acidity—a delicious wine with depth, energy, and clear potential to age gracefully.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECAromas of white flowers, fresh linen, apple and citrus blossom jump from the glass on the nose of this Chard. The palate is a layered and concentrated affair, with flavors of tangerine, pear, cinnamon and white flowers that expand across the finish.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEShows wonderful precision, with complementary flavors of pear, Meyer lemon, yuzu and lime sherbet. The structure is equally impressive, offering density and Himalayan sea salt notes that add an appealing grip on the finish, where aromatics of vetiver, lemon balm and lemon thyme linger. Drink now through 2038. 1,200 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2023 Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge was matured in 25% new French oak puncheons. It has slowly opening aromas of peach, beeswax, orange peel and saline. The medium-bodied palate is satiny and expansive with pure flavors. Its firm, linear acidity brings it back into focus, and it has a very long, expressive finish. 1,200 cases were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

This is even cooler and more restrained as the nose only grudgingly reveals its aromas of mineral reduction, green apple, spice, acacia blossom and a deft touch of wood. The gorgeously textured medium weight flavors brim with both minerality and sappy dry extract that buffers the youthfully austere and even more persistent finish. This too is very classy and a classic Clos de la Mouchère of grace and poise. If you can find it, buy it.Burghound | 95 BHA fuller yellow here, and an extra degree of completeness, more weight and almost all the class. The oak is still at 50% new and is very well integrated. Gorgeously rich, with little fruits dancing through a meadow. Once again, I do see the magic of this. Henri was strongly advised by his father to look after “Madame de la Mouchère”. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchère 1er Cru is another very classy wine. Vertical in feel, the 2023 is super-bright from the outset. White pepper, flowers, mint, sage and pear reinforce that impression. Readers will find an airy, deceptively mid-weight Puligny that possesses remarkable depth.Vinous Media | 93-95 VM

This is a blend of Le Charlemagne, and Hautes Mourottes, which from 2024 Pierre-François will make separately, calling the former Charlemagne and the latter Corton-Charlemagne. In 2023 there are eight barrels worth, made in two new barrels, two older barrels and a concrete egg. These have been racked to tank since just after the harvest. Pale in colour, stony with a little toast also. Crisp white orchard fruit with a little flesh behind, and good tension. Nicely balanced at 13.5% alcohol. Drink from 2029-2038. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JM

A beautifully layered nose subtly blends notes of poached pear, just sliced apple, spice and a touch of citrus confit. There is an equally beautiful texture to the seductive and caressing medium weight flavors that possess sneaky good length on the balanced finale. This is lovely and while it’s not particularly intense, it remains refreshing and inviting as well as a wine that could be enjoyed on the younger side if desired.Burghound | 92 BHThe 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Chenevottes 1er Cru has a lovely bouquet with citrus peel and light floral scents. It’s a little more reductive than other cuvées, but that’s no bad thing. The palate is well-balanced with a fine bead of acidity, building nicely in the mouth with just a hint of peach skin on the finish. Excellent.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMPale lemon and lime. There is a touch of citrus with the minor reduction. Firm at the finish which is no bad thing as there is a considerable volume of white orchard fruit which needs to be kept in place. Easy of access once again. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

With the 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos Hommage à Louis, the Droins have regained the right to designate Les Clos on the label from the INAO, but they’re also continuing with the Hommage à Louis moniker. Whatever its name, the wine is lovely, opening in the glass with notes of green apple, peach and lemon mingled with iodine and toasted nuts, followed by a full-bodied, layered and concentrated palate that’s deep, dense and muscular.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2023 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru Hommage à Louis has the best bouquet amongst the Grand Crus from Droin. Very vibrant and intense, with crushed limestone and flint. The palate is well balanced with melon, grapefruit, orange rind and quince on the entry, building nicely towards a slightly oily-textured finish. I can see this aging well in bottle - more complexity on the finish compared to say, the Valmur or Grenouilles.Vinous Media | 94 VMI believe that the authorities have now confirmed that all of Benoît Droin’s plots are properly within the boundaries of Les Clos, though Benoît will continue to use the Hommage epithet alongside the vineyard name. the 2023 Hommage à Louis has a clear and classic nose after the pale lemon colour. Brilliant balanced juice, the Clos transcends the vintage. All white fruit of course but some crunch to the white apple fruit. Juicy and generous but still with a fine firm classic core. Fabulous finish. Drink from 2028-2040. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMSmoke and light wood nuances set off cool floral and spicy aromas of freshly grated citrus, white peach, honeysuckle and tidal pool wisps. There is again fine intensity to the dense and stony broad-shouldered flavors that flash fine length on the ever-so-mildly warm finale where a touch of youthful austerity slowly emerges. This refreshing effort is so rich that it should drink reasonably well young but the better choice would be to allow it to age for at least a few years as it could also use more overall depth.Burghound | 93 BH

This exquisite wine enchants with a complex nose of lime peel, gooseberry and pear with hints of smoky reduction and a salty mineral edge. The wine is dense and compact, and its weight is perfectly balanced by racy acidity. The grapes are from 1.76ha in the blue clay soils of the Côte de Bréchain. They are crushed and fermented in tank and cask (25%). In the view of Benoît Droin, this is a ’super premier cru’ – grand cru-adjacent, like Chambolle Amoureuses and Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECAromas of citrus blossom, orange oil, white flowers, iodine and honey introduce the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered wine that’s rich and dense. It’s a strong effort with good cellaring potential.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2023 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru has a more austere bouquet of light fumé notes mixed with petrichor–a more uncompromising aromatics than the Vaulorent, one for hardcore Chablis-lovers. The palate is taut and fresh, displaying good body and density. Very pure with a strict and persistent finish. Excellent.Vinous Media | 93 VMThis too possesses just enough wood to merit pointing out on the smoky nose of white flowers, wet stone and soft quinine whiffs. The elegant, intense and focused medium-bodied flavors exude evident minerality on the unusually powerful, balanced and precise finale. This is also lovely though with the proviso that it definitely needs to develop better overall depth.Burghound | 91 BHPale in colour, quite strict on the nose. This is so much less exotic than the Mont de Milieu but it has a generous flesh through the middle, more white peach than yellow, but all very well harnessed. Crunchy finish. 30% was made in barrel. Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Jun 2024.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JM

I have always liked the Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine bottling from Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, as this is one of the more limestone-defined cuvées in their fine lineup. The 2023 is no exception, as this is a lovely wine, offering up a bright and classic nose of apple, nectarine, chalky soil tones, orange zest and a topnote of spring flowers. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and nicely racy out of the blocks, with a good core, fine mineral undertow and lovely balance on the long and complex finish. Good juice. (Drink between 2025 - 2037)John Gilman | 91 JGFrom foudre. This one had finished fermenting. Mid lemon yellow a mix of apples and pears on the nose. More generous than usual but still with its more typical white fruit with some minerals. Fine length. Drink from 2024-2026. Tasted Mar 2024.Jasper Morris | 88-90 JM

The les Maranches bottling is made from a nice blend of older and younger vines, with half planted in 1977 and half in 1999. The younger vines always seem to contribute a nice sensation of fruit energy to the wine and the 2023 shows this beautifully, as it delivers a vibrant bouquet of peach, apple, a touch of hazelnut, a good base of soil, dried flowers and a whisper of oak from the foudres in which the wine is raised. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, complex and nicely succulent at the core, with a good foundation of soil tones, sound acids, fine focus and a long, classy and very nicely balanced finish. (Drink between 2025 - 2035)John Gilman | 91 JGThe Uchizy has fallen clear, with a lemon and lime colour. Pure clear and chiselled, less evidently 2023, a little reduction, then the muscatty component arrives behind. Long, refined and not too fleshy. Drink from 2025-2027. Tasted Mar 2024.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JM

There is good Chablis typicity present in the form of iodine, seashore and petrol along with citrus zest top notes. The delicious, vibrant and precise middle weight flavors flash good minerality on the clean, dry and saline-inflected finish. This is very good for its level and worth considering.Burghound | 89-91 BHThe 2023 Chablis Village was assembled for my visit by Didier Picq from 10 vats. It has an attractive if light bouquet with apple blossom and fresh pear aromas. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, a little creaminess towards the finish. This will drink well for 4-6 years.Vinous Media | 88-90 VMBlend made up. Fresh pale yellow, immediate energy on the nose, this keeps growing in the glass, with good tension, even a little pleasing bitterness at the finish. Very promising. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted Jul 2024.Jasper Morris | 87-90 JM

Delicate and aromatic with fresh flowers and al dente apples, following through to a medium body with lovely depth and intensity. Tight and fresh at the end. Subtle. Drink now.James Suckling | 93 JSAromas of white flowers, sweet stone fruit and vanilla pod introduce Drouhin’s 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Village, a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy wine that’s lively and charming.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPThe 2023 Puligny villages from Joseph Drouhin is very pretty this year. The wine’s bouquet is bright and wide open, offering up scents of apple, pear, almond, chalky soil tones and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is elegant, full-bodied and complex, with good, but not great depth at the core, bouncy acids, lovely balance and a long, wide open and succulent finish. This is very tasty right out of the blocks, but has the balance to also age quite gracefully. (Drink between 2025-2045)John Gilman | 90 JGPale lemon and lime, with at the moment more oak showing, as the Puligny has not yet been racked. There is plenty of quality orchard fruit, while a good thread of acidity extends the fruit well out at the back of the palate. Drink from 2028-2032. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 89-91 JMThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Village, from purchased grapes, has a light, apple blossom-scented bouquet with just a touch of wet stone. The palate is crisp on the entry with pretty citrus fruit notes and a nicely detailed finish. Drink this over the next four to six years.Vinous Media | 88-90 VMProminent floral aromas, especially acacia and carnation, add breadth to the nose of the essence of poached pear and just enough wood to notice. The sleek and refined middle weight flavors are more voluminous and richer, if less obviously mineral-inflected, while delivering fine length on the suave and sappy finish where the wood telegraphed by the nose resurfaces. While this should amply repay short to mid-term keeping, it could be enjoyed young too.Burghound | 88-91 BH

The 2023 Chablis Vosgros 1er Cru shows a small reduction when taken directly from vat. It eventually offers shucked oyster shell on the nose, quite strict and focused. The palate is very smooth, a little creamier in texture compared to the Vaucoupin. Touches of lemongrass and Vervane flowers lend intrigue on the finish. Real panache here and it may have its nose in front come bottling.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMAn expressive and airy nose reflects an abundance of Chablis typicity that include just sliced lemon, iodine, shellfish and quinine. The rich and generously proportioned medium-bodied flavors possess fine mid-palate density and a lovely texture while delivering excellent persistence on the balanced and refreshingly dry finish. This too is very good and a wine that should also amply repay mid-term keeping.Burghound | 92 BHBottled in March 2025. Pale lemon and lime, fresh for 2023. A vinous nose, touch of coconut quite generous. Not too fleshy but in a style heading in that direction. Some minerality but less precision than 2024. Drink from 2027-2035. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 91 JM

The 2023 Chablis Au Dessus des Carrières was bottled a couple of weeks prior to my visit after 12 months on the lees and a fermentation that was strung out over 12 months! It has an exquisite, beautifully defined and focused bouquet surfeit with minerals. The palate is very precise, poised, saline and tangy, with a dab of iodine toward the finish. The 2023 is excellent.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMFuller yellow, the nose showing that the bottle has been open a few days. The 2023 is fleshier than the 2024 of course but still exceptionally marine at the back. Just bottled. Very long finish. Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted Jun 2025.Jasper Morris | 91 JMPretty and nicely fresh aromas include those of just sliced pear and apple while displaying enough Chablis typicity to be convincing. The rich, generous and vibrant medium weight flavors already possess fine complexity as well as excellent length on the clean, moderately dry and balanced finale. This is a very fine villages and one that should both drink well young as well as repay mid-term keeping.Burghound | 90 BH

The 2024 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has a pretty bouquet with hints of rose water and apricot, even a hint of quince infusing the citrus fruit. Good delineation, as one comes to expect from this address. The palate is fresh and vibrant on the entry. Fine grip, the terroir flooding through towards the finish that fans out as a Grand Cru ought to. You can feel the terroir on the aftertaste… as if you’ve just popped a bit of limestone in your mouth!Vinous Media | 95 VMRobin Rapet waited until 22 September to pick the Corton-Charlemagne, and harvested everything, almost 3ha, together. ’Normally, we pick the vines facing southwest, then those facing west. This year they predicted rain, and we picked everything,’ says Rapet, which gives a wine that is at the same time rich, fresh and slightly exotic. The complexity was enhanced by the variety of maturation: one concrete egg, one amphora and one wine globe. Overall, one third of the part in barrel is new, and two-thirds are older barrels.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECEverybody seemed to be picking their Corton-Charlemagne on the same day on the Pernand side, Saturday 21st, because rain threatened. Pale lemon in colour. A little tension showing on the nose which is not exuberant. 60% wood with one third new, plus wineglobe, egg, amphora and foudre. Interesting complexity on the palate, just a little softness in the white fruit through the middle, then stones behind. Drink from 2030-2036. Tasted Oct 2025.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JM

From Les Chaumes. Mid lemon yellow. The nose is more about vanilla and coconut than fruit at the moment, but there is time. The density is certainly there, though this is a broad based Corton without the seeming minerality of Corton-Charlemagne. But it does seem a little overdone on the oak front. One barrel, one year old wood.Jasper Morris | 91-94 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