Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 58

FOCUS: BURGUNDY
Our blind panels tasted 284 wines from Burgundy for this issue. Our critic for Burgundy, Joshua Greene, rated 116 wines as exceptional
(90+) and 21 as Best Buys. Subscribers can find a complete list of wines tasted, and all reviews, at wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

WHITE

CHABLIS PREMIER CRU

CHABLIS

CHABLIS GRAND CRU

94 | Domaine
Jean-Louis Mothe

93 | La Chablisienne

$23

$36

93 | Samuel Billaud

$49

92 | Maison
Patricia Raquin

$37

91 | Domaine des Hâtes

$43

278096

278363

93 | La Chablisienne

$82

92 | Domaine
Jean-Louis Mothe

$59

2015 Chablis Grand Cru Château Grenouilles ^ This 17.8-acre grand cru became
part of La Chablisienne in 2003. In 2015,
it's a wine of detailed soil expression, with
limestone tension holding the wine's density
and richness to a tight focus. Mouthwatering
in its fresh herb and bitter almond flavors,
this is vibrant, if still unyielding. Check on
it ten years from the vintage, when it may
have begun to soften. § USA Wine West, Sausalito, CA
278076

2017 Chablis Grand Cru Bougros (Best
Buy) ^ Mothe ferments this wine with ambient yeasts in stainless steel, aging 20 percent
of the lot in oak for a year. That contributes
some toasty richness to the wine, while the
green-pear flavors feel tough and underripe when the bottle is first opened. Three
days later, the wine begins to come into its
own, revealing crunchy nectarine and kumquat flavors held within a firm structure. For
the cellar. § Scoperta Importing Co., Cleveland
Heights, OH
278050

91 | Domaine Chanson

$111

2018 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses ^ A
tight young grand cru, this is impenetrable
at the moment, its cool compression of floral
notes, ginger and yellow apple tightly closed
off behind a bland and smoky scrim. The
wine shows enough of itself to pique interest; it should be more interesting five years
from now, and ready to drink in ten. § Vintus,
Pleasantville, NY
278051

91 | Domaine de Vauroux

$80

2017 Chablis Grand Cru Bougros ^ Succulent pear flavors edged by ginger and bright
apple acidities are all this wine allows for
now. It's balled up in its tight flavor concentration, even as the effect is mouthwatering,
with evidence of the generosity to come. Cellar it. § Regal Wine Imports, Moorestown, NJ

58

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

2017 Chablis 1er Cru Vaucoupin ^ Jean-Louis
Mothe runs this domaine with his brothers,
Thierry and Vincent, tending the family's 142
acres of vines in Chablis (the domaine dates
to 1887). He ferments this wine spontaneously in stainless steel, capturing the zesty
concentration of its fruit with youthful intensity. Scents of corn silk, orange zest, cardamom and peach show the wine's barely ripe
freshness, electric in its fragrant buzz. It's a
Chablis with an elegant presence, well worth
stocking away in your cellar. § Scoperta Importing Co., Cleveland Heights, OH
278085
2018 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains (Best
Buy) ^ Samuel Billaud left his post as winemaker at Billaud-Simon to establish his own
domaine in 2009, and now works with ten
acres of vines. He ferments this wine with
ambient yeasts in a combination of stainlesssteel tanks and large, neutral oak casks, presenting a cool, gentle Chablis with gingery
concentration of green pear and white nectarine flavors. It's bright and firmly focused,
a quiet waterfall of fruit richness lasting in
the end. § Shiverick Imports, Los Angeles, CA
278360

91 | La Chablisienne

$37

2016 Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Léchet ^
Reduced to green-olive notes, this wine
needs air to reveal its zesty white fruit and
cardamom spice. It develops a luscious, oceanic power as it opens, tightly focused and
mouthwatering in its mineral acidity. Cellar
it for three or four years, then serve it with
an oyster pan roast or a shellfish stew. § USA
Wine West, Sausalito, CA
278362

90 | La Chablisienne

$45

2015 Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume ^ Cold
green-apple flavors meet savory almond brioche scents in this tight, unyielding Chablis.
The underlying citrus freshness has not yet
come to the surface, stubbornly requiring
more age. § USA Wine West, Sausalito, CA

278359

2016 Chablis La Pierrelée (Best Buy) ^ This
is pretty awesome for a co-op wine, and
remarkable for a simple villages-level Chablis. The fruit is a blend from all the villages
of Chablis, selected for its delicacy (the co-op
makes five different villages-level Chablis,
each with a different stylistic intention). At
first, this wine seemed old-fashioned and a
little comical in its French ridiculousness,
a sixties radical wearing patchouli, with the
breath of raw limestone and Indian spice.
Then, the more I went back to it, the more
it made me smile, until I sort of fell in love.
There's gentleness to balance the bold spice,
and a honeyed note that lends it stamina
and length. Yes, it's just a co-op Chablis, but
I would be jazzed to score a case for my cellar. § USA Wine West, Sausalito, CA
278077
2018 Chablis Vieilles Vignes ^ Based in Savigny-lès-Beaune, Patricia Raquin purchases
fruit from the grower of these 62-year-old
vines, ferments it with ambient yeasts in
stainless steel, then ages the wine in 500liter barrels for five months. With its structure, direction and complex layering of limestone minerality with lemon, Bosc pear and
gingery fruit, this could stand in for a premier cru Chablis. It's dynamic as it oscillates
through those layers of flavor and continues
to lengthen. Compelling to drink now, and
well worth cellaring. § Kysela Père et Fils, Winchester, VA
278048
2017 Chablis Les Chatillons ^ Pierrick
Laroche farms this 2.5-acre parcel in Fontenay, treating the wine to longer aging on
the lees than his other wines (18 months),
and aging 15 percent of the lot in oak (demimuids and smaller casks). The high proportion of calcareous soil at the site comes
through in the wine's brisk acidity, edging
the yellow apple flavors with freshness and
youthful energy. There's some bitterness in
the finish, like lemon pith, needing age to
mellow. § Vintage '59 Imports, Washington, DC
278021
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Wine & Spirits - October 2020

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