Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

For the most part, I’ve had nearly exclusively 100% Pinot Muenier from Mousse & Fils. My first 100% Chardonnay from them.

Not to beat a dead horse, but this is labeled Extra Brut at 1.5g, which is technically a nature. Amazing how often Champagne is missed label given French wine laws. Just goes to show you, you need to check them if you have a sweetness preference.

Mousse & Fils makes really nice cuvées if you haven’t had them. For many years really great QPR’s. They have increased their prices points but it’s reasonable, just not as good as they once were. But what is today!

The palate has it all. Beautiful mousse. Bruised Bosc pear & apple to cider, lime zest/pulp, lemon with meringue, pineapple juice, tropical melons, graham cracker crust, whipped cream, white spice w/ some palate heat, yeasty bread dough to baguette crust, limestone minerals with crumbled chalk, grey volcanic minerals, touch of dry herbs, yellow flowers, jasmine & spring flowers, grand, lively acidity, nice structure/tension, excellent balance with a smartly polished/elegant finish that lasts minutes and lands on volcanics & spice. — a month ago

Vanessa

9.3

Tonight we opened the 2020 Domaine Labet Lias Les Juvéniles made with Chardonnay grown on blue clay and limestone soils (known as ‘Lias’), hailing from 30-60 year old vines in the lieux-dits of La Pellerine, Le Crêt, Arteau. 🌱

It underwent fermentation with wild yeast followed by 17 months aging on the lees in 228L oak barrels.

The color is a luminescent golden hue. After giving it a swirl, the aromas and flavors are singing!

It offers notes of flint, toast, fresh quince, honeydew, starfruit, yellow apple skin, juicy white peach, lemon peel, white blossom, chamomile, cream, sage, and hazelnut.

On the palate this wine is dry with structural symmetry and textural richness. It is mouth-coating with a long-elegant finish.
— a year ago

with Deked1

Lee Pitofsky

9.4

Jean Marc Roulot has always been a champion of showcasing individual terroir diversity with his terrific village lieux-dits, and the excellent 2017 vintage which has turned out so well for both red and white burg, is just perfect for it. Les Luchets is fantastic tonight, wafting from the glass with layers of white orchard fruit, lilies, hazelnut, spices and attractive matchstick reduction. The palate is pure and vibrant with a crystalline minerality, an elegant texture and notably impressive length. Really great bottle. — 3 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.8

Disg. 2/14 (07 base)…Always my favorite of the Lieux-Dits and without question one of the very best Blanc de Blancs Champagnes on the planet, it’s particularly special to have with some bottle age. It’s absolutely as stunning as hoped—rich and powerful with crazy depth to its layers with a deep, complex core of caramelized orchard fruit, roasted nuts, old rum barrels and candied white flowers, all with seamless integration. The palate is generous and detailed, with racy acids, waves of saline laced, chalky Le Mesnil minerals and a finish that just stays with you. A BdB benchmark, legendary bubbles. — a month ago

Moritz

9.0

Toller Chateau-neuf du Pape. Degu SHL — 10 months ago

Tobin Spratte

9.4

Comes from 5 different lieux-dits within Meursault. White peach, honey crisp apples, wet limestone, flowers, with a bit of funk, almost like buttermilk. Orchard fruit carries over to the palate, forming a memorable peaches and cream finish that sweetens in the mouth, as though someone drizzled wildflower honey on the peaches--but without being too sweet. Outstanding QPR wine. — a year ago

Gilbert Van Hassel

9.6

Sensational — a month ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Disgorged Jan 17 this was rich with a touch of the Selosse ox — 6 months ago

web bond

9.1

2022 Joseph Colin Chassagne-Montrachet “Hereditas”

Joseph Colin is Pierre Yves younger bro. Village level composed of 3 lieu dits surrounding Criots-Batard Motrachet Grand Cru: •

Lieux-dits: Les Meix Goudard, Blanchot Dessous, En Journoblot — a year ago

Martinez

9.4

One of Usseglio’s top cuvées, Mon Aïeul (“my granddad”) is 100% Grenache from some of the estate’s oldest vines (about 85 years of age) in La Crau, La Guigasse and Les Grandes Serres lieux-dits – each with a different type of soil.

Situated on an elevated plateau to the east of the village, La Crau is perhaps Châteauneuf’s most famous cru, known for its distinctive “galets roulés”, large, rounded river stones deposited here by the Rhône millions of years ago. To the south of the village, Les Grandes Serres is a very warm site on gravelly alluvial soils (and the source of the estate’s biggest wine, the 18% ABV “Not for You”). La Guigasse, on the other hand, is a cooler, sandier site with hardly any galets located on the northeastern part of the appellation, near the famous Pignan and Rayas lieux-dits (Chateau Rayas)

Mostly unoaked, it was brought up in concrete vats, with 15-20% in demi-muids. Ruby red color. Intensely perfumed, with notes of red and dark fruit (strawberry, raspberry), licorice and herbs. Full-bodied, rich, opulent and concentrated. Ripe fruit (cherry) and white pepper, smooth and creamy on the palate. Long, velvety, quite tannic finish. Hedonistic wine. — 3 years ago