Wine & Spirits - October 2019 - 97

IMPORTED NEW RELEASES
90 | Dom. William Fèvre

$145

2017 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos ^ As a
young wine, this presents grand cru credentials in its size, lemon richness, powerful structure and stalwart tannins. Pale and
leesy, everything about this wine is big and
white. Check on it ten years from the vintage,
when the flavors should be more accessible. §
Maisons & Domaines Henriot, NY -J.G.

CHABLIS PREMIER CRU
272770

93 | Dom. Louis Moreau

$40

2017 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulignot (Best Buy) ^
Louis Moreau farms 22 acres in Vaulignot, a
premier cru in the village of Beines, where
his cellar is based. Perhaps the proximity
plays into this wine's freshness and expressive depths. Vinified in stainless steel, its
concentrated juiciness reveals a leesy fatness, somewhere between a ripe peach and
a freshly shucked oyster. A lemon essence
and a limestone grip bring clarity to the
wine's sophisticated minerality. Where but in
Chablis would you find a bold, rich wine of
this stature for $40? § Craft + Estate/Winebow
Imports, NY -J.G.
273092

92 | Domaine Jean-Claude
Courtault

$44

2016 Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy (Best Buy) ^ A
portion of this wine ages in older oak, lending
a piecrust richness to the smoky baked-pear
and orange flavors, along with the seashelllike minerality. As Karen Goodlad, a wine
professor at NYC's City Tech, pointed out,
"It's tight and ripe, and the acidity screams
Chablis." This will age with grace. § Banville
Wine Merchants, NY -J.G.
272768

92 | Dom. Louis Moreau

$50

2017 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons ^ This domaine
includes 8.8 acres in Vaillons, where the oldest vines date to 1945. Vinified in stainless
steel without added yeasts, this wine developed an ornate complexity as it aged on the
fine lees. That complexity has not yet fully
emerged, living within a fresh, floral white
with savory green-almond notes and salty
minerality. It's classical and understated,
even as the concentrated depth of fruit is
apparent. Destined for the cellar. § Craft +
Estate/Winebow Imports, NY -J.G.
272699

91 | Corrine &
Jean-Pierre Grossot

of white flowers, apples and earthier pommes
de terre. A seashell minerality comes up with
air, suggesting the wine has more to reveal
with cellar time. § V.O.S. Selections, NY -J.G.

CHABLIS
273091

91 | Domaine Jean-Claude
Courtault

$29

2017 Chablis (Best Buy) ^ A tense, gingery
Chablis with understated scents of chalky
lime and grapefruit, this develops notes of
hazelnut, cinnamon and nutmeg that spice
the buttery citrus flavor. It improves markedly with air, and it should develop well over
the next several years in bottle. § Banville Wine
Merchants, NY -J.G.
272767

91 | Dom. Louis Moreau

$27

2018 Chablis (Best Buy) ^ Louis Moreau
farms 52 acres in the villages of Beines and
Chablis, most of his parcels on sandy clay
soils. He ferments this wine in stainless steel
without added yeasts, then ages it on the fine
lees. In 2018, he achieved a wine of almost
tropical fruit ripeness, with the structure, layers of flavor and leesy complexity of a fine
Chablis. If you put your expectations aside
and just take this, heads up, as a white wine,
you might imagine its pineapple and lime,
together with its monolithic minerality, as
part of a new world order, with Chablis holding its own in the midst of a warming climate. §
Craft + Estate/Winebow Imports, NY -J.G.
272578

90 | Samuel Billaud

$27

2017 Chablis Les Grands Terroirs ^ Clean
and concentrated, this is a bright and spicy
Chablis with chalky chamomile scents and
buttery flavors with a prickle of lime. It's
young and needs a year or two of bottle
age for those flavors to deepen. § Shiverick
Imports, Los Angeles, CA -J.G.

272669
$50

2017 Chablis 1er Cru Vaucoupin ^ The Grossot family farms 3.95 acres in Vaucoupin,
their vines averaging 50 years old, certified
organic in 2015. Vinified and aged in stainless
steel, this is a tight, spicy Chablis with notes

90 | Domaine Drouhin
Vaudon

$26

2018 Chablis (Best Buy) ^ This wine's greentinged acidity makes it cool and mouthwatering, even as the flavors have some unctuous weight and leesy depths. You might find

chamomile and scents of white roses as the
wine lasts, pure, spicy and clean. § Dreyfus,
Ashby & Co., NY -J.G.
272381

88 | François &
Olivier Savary

$27

2017 Chablis (Best Buy) ^ This wine is all
about texture at the moment, its flavors still
incipient, integrated into a round, supple
wine with the meatiness to take on roast
veal. Cellar it for a year or two and the flavor
depth should develop. § Kermit Lynch Wine
Merchant, Berkeley, CA -J.G.

BEAUNE
272888

92 | Bouchard Père & Fils

$80

2017 Beaune 1er Cru Monopole Clos
Saint-Landry ^ This 4.89-acre vineyard,
wholly owned by Bouchard Père & Fils, sits
in the center of the hill on the Pommard side
of Beaune. It offers a substantial 2017, with
fruit highlights of cara cara oranges and tart
pink grapefruit, the citrus melding into the
hazelnut richness of oak as the wine mellows
with air. It's polished and pretty, with a tension that suggests a long life ahead. § Maisons
& Domaines Henriot, NY -J.G.

BOURGOGNE
272391

92 | Domaine de la Folie

$29

91 | Etienne Sauzet

$41

89 | La Sœur Cadette

$27

2017 Bourgogne Aligoté ^ Savory and herbal,
with notes of pressed flowers, this has the
crunch of an apple and the chewiness of
plum skin. It's bright and juicy, with layers
of umami depth. Decant it for grilled chicken
livers and other earthy robata skewers. § Vintage '59 Imports, Washington, DC -J.G.
273000
2017 Bourgogne ^ Here's a Bourgogne blanc
with the structure and depth of flavor to
age. It's fresh and clean, a musky chardonnay with peach and chamomile flavors integrated into the nutty lees. Full, bright and
lasting, this is estate grown at a parcel just
outside Puligny-Montrachet villages-and it
would be impressive at a village level. § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.
272379
2017 Bourgogne Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Light
and brisk, this wine focuses on floral scents
of chamomile and earthy meadow flowers.
There's a hint of leesiness and a tang of lemony acidity, all coming together in a firm,
juicy white. § Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant,
Berkeley, CA -J.G.

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2019

http://www.drouhin-vaudon-chablis.com/en/wines/petit-chablis-2018.php

Wine & Spirits - October 2019

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