Reviews

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Hommage à Marguerite

Slight reduction at first, with a stony, white rock and high riding white/yellow fruit core that presents as fairly strict throughout. Thinner mid-palate, with the mineral elements dominating over…

Platt Vineyard Chardonnay Estate Reserve

Lemon, lemon, and lemon. Crème fraiche and vanilla encompass the succulent fruit on the front end, making for a creamy texture and rounder attack on entry. Mid-palate is medium, with lemon curd and…

Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard

From Magnum.

Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre

Strong pineapple rind and barrel influence here. Seems a bit disjointed at first, finishing slightly bitter. With air, its brassy profile wanes, with tropical fruit, lemon curd, and cantaloupe rind…

Leclerc Briant Champagne Grand Cru Grand Blanc Brut Zéro Blanc de Blancs

As my previous note from February references, this starts out a little sour and torqued up. Linear and primary, but then transforms in fairly short order into a more exquisite creature. It has a…

Aubert Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard

Nicely balanced for this style, the 2023 Eastside carries succulent lemon curd, lemon butter, marshmallow, popcorn, marzipan, crème fraiche, yellow pear, and quince notes. With voluminous Aubert…

Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Hors Serie

Half the bottle open decanted for two hours vs. half the bottle left in-bottle. Though the decanted version was certainly more relaxed and approachable, I found the sample directly from the bottle to…

Adrien Dhondt Champagne Grand Cru Les Potées Le Mesnil-sur-Oger

Bangin' again! Excellent volume-to-freshness ratio and balance. A lot of lemon and crème fraiche jumping off here, with similar but more serious elements of lemon juice/zest/pith, white…

Domaine Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Clos Richemont

Super reductive, showing front-loaded richness and a brawny, shouldery execution. Lemon curd, buttered popcorn, matchstick head, barrel spice, yellow pear skin, yuzu, and salt rock. The 14.5% ABV…

Pertois-Lebrun Champagne Grand Cru Le Fond Du Bateau N°13

This bottle was a bit more filled out than the one a few months ago. There are some wood and oxidation influences that add depth, with a finish that maintains freshness and precision. Better focus on…

Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Heurtebise

Much better this time around, especially with extended air. Compelling cut and drive. A slight herbal note shows up on first splash, but dissipates with swirling. Lovely drive from this bottle. Less…

Jacques Selosse Substance

At Ristorante NIN, Brenzone su Garda, Lake Garda, Italy.

Dhondt-Grellet Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Vieille Vigne Le Bateau

A bit rounder and broader than some of Dhondt's more precise offerings, the Bateau shows wonderful depth and budding profundity on the front end, with a mid-palate girth that presents as full-first…

Michel Fallon Champagne Brigitte Fallon Avysia Avize

With a similar profile to the 2014, this edition of 2015 carries the white melon and yellow-white citrus profile that is hallmark to these wines. The first pop of the cork is unsurprisingly linear…

Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc

In typical Leflaive fashion, the base model outperforms many of the otherwise higher-level whites that surround it. What lifts this and elevates its brightness above others is the wonderful acidity…

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

Yellow citrus and pear flavors make for a medium-intensity delivery, with solid lift and tension to elevate the lemony-lime fruit. Green streak of limestone, green pear, and green apple flesh inject…

00 Wines Chardonnay Seven Springs Vineyard

This was a brassier showing than the previous bottle I'd sampled, especially given the fact that it was served blind amongst waaaay fresher Chardonnay profiles, which only exacerbated the perception…

Walter Scott Chardonnay Freedom Hill Vineyard

The reduction was super strong on this bottle and robbed the fruit of any chance of expansion. Hardboiled egg, lime, and lemon pith. Overdone and blown out to the point of no return for me. Jacked my…

Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles

Another solid performance, and the favored wine of the blind white flight, this is a strong vintage from Droin Grenouilles. Saline and iodine meet lemon-lime zing, delivered in perfect balance.…

Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

I've written a decent amount on this vintage of Comtes. I like it quite a bit and find it representative of a solid young big house Champagne. That said, I need to keep hands off these for another…

Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Les Mottelettes

A solid BdB with accessible and giving lemon and melon flavors that both enliven and coat the palate. There are fullness and breadth here, with a travertine-laced delivery providing a sporty lift for…

Savart Champagne Premier Cru Le Mont des Chrétiens

Waaaay better than the ping-pongy bottle I had back in April, this shows quite a bit more refinement and balance. With air, it becomes fuller and more enveloping, with a beautiful kiss of subtle…

Dhondt-Grellet Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cramant

Aggressive bubbles turn flat in the glass. Pours a beautiful deep golden yellow color. Muted nose. Front end is all stewed lemons. Back end is bitter alkaline and sour, burnished finish. Gets even…

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots

This has gone from spun up and linear to just ok. It's medium everything and has a nice bead of acidity to back up the lemon-on-lemon profile, but it lacks any true fireworks. Some salinity and lime…

Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d'Or

Heavy reduction and a bit of heat kick off flavors of sour lemon and lime, lemon pith, clementine, honeydew, white melon rind, and lemon verbena. After a two hour decant, this was less reduced and…