Slightly darker in color than its peers, the 2017 Chablis Les Vaudésir Grand Cru has an expressive bouquet with a fair smack of oak that partly clouds the terroir and renders this a little generic. Returning after 10 minutes, there are some sulfur issues here. The palate is well-balanced, however, with enticing nectarine and clementine notes, good depth and a supple, almost caressing finish. Very tempting, but it needs to grow into something more interesting, more Grand Cru-ish. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune. (Neal Martin, Vinous, August 2021)
— 3 years ago
Always a favorite from the Pyrenees mountains. Met this guy once. Cool pictures of the vineyards above the clouds. Satiny smooth with a fresh clean finish. — 9 months ago
Splash decanted and served double-blind. Deep ruby color bordering garnet with a translucent, nearly transparent core. Already this wine has me between two minds and that theme continued. Medium viscosity. On the nose, medium+ intensity with reductive aromas present but they seemed to dissipate with time. Dark, tart funky cherry fruit (sort of like a Montmorency or similar sour baking cherry) with some dried herbs and some stone. To be honest, the nose is a bit reticent and it’s hard to tell what the oak treatment is. Pretty sure there is oak but hard to tell whether it’s neutral or large format. Whatever, on to the palate. The wine is dry with medium+ acid and medium tannin. The finish is medium+ and rather satisfying. The palate is much more open at this stage, again with the dark tart cherries and dried herbs with earth, stone and some spices. I was leaning pretty heavily towards Sangiovese at this point until, with a thimble-full of wine left in my glass, I got bruised strawberry and a whiff of French oak. The clouds parted and I was instantly transported to Burgundy. I called Pinot Noir, from the Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny, 2017, because it seemed young and not nearly as giving as I would want from a vintage like 2018 or 2019. I was so pumped when this was revealed and Fourrier no less! A pretty wine that still needs time to flesh out. — 3 years ago
This wine was really good. — 5 years ago
Very good Chardonnay. Tasmania? Who know? Gotta go. — 2 years ago
Supposedly one of the better Cabs, but I found it be just ok and given the price tag, not such a good QPR — 4 years ago
Body: light, 2/5
Tannins: low, 2/5
Acidity: mod 3/5
Intensity: low 2/5
Alcohol: low 2/5
Light but structured, succulent and a little (but not too) fruity — 5 years ago
Randy Fuller
I was shopping for a Shaoxing rice wine which was called for in a recipe I was cooking. I did not find it, but figured that sake should be a good substitute, since it is rice wine. The Dreamy Clouds has alcohol at 15% abv and cost $16 for the 300 ml bottle at Whole Foods Market. That's a bit more than I want to pay for a wine for cooking, but I figured I would drink the rest.
This wine has a typical sake flavoring of minerals and lychee, but is quite a bit drier than the usual cloudy sake. It was great for cooking, and not that bad for drinking, although I would still rather have a Chardonnay, Roussanne or dry Riesling for either purpose. — 5 months ago