My first time trying a wine from Daniel-Etinne Defaix, a Chablis winemaker known for releasing some of his wines very late to the market (this 2006 is on release now, a full sixteen years after the vintage).
How it looks: A flash of green through the amber hue already drops this into Chablis for the blind taster.
How it smells: seduction in a glass, everything you want from Chardonnay with age. From primary to tertiary, every aroma sits in perfect balance with the others in the glass. There’s bitter lemon, burnt butter, vanilla, peach and that delightful hint of honey that Chardonnay shows with age.
How it sips: lean, intense and complex on the palate, with great tension and acidity, and a fantastic sense of water on rock. Surprisingly, this showed better on the second night - by some margin, too. It fully opened up on the palate, with tremendous width and shocking drinkability.
Ultimately, this is an incredibly pure expression of Chardonnay from the Vaillons climat without much intrusion of oak. And heck, this has acidity for days - so I’d love to try it again in ten years, for fun.
Enjoyed with lemon sole on the second night, which I must say provided great emotion. — 3 years ago
The 2016 Prieuré-Lichine is all class. Floral, silky and nuanced to the core, the 2016 is a wine of pure and total seduction. Freshly cut flowers, vibrant red fruit and creamy tannins all add to the wine's undeniable allure. In 2016, Prieuré-Lichine is all class, not to mention one of the sleepers of the vintage. Don't miss it! Tasted two times." - Antonio Galloni — a year ago
Had to do some hard detective work to pair this bottle to the label in the cellar.
The wine is pure seduction. Heady floral and honey notes, a commandingly deep tartness. Lots of phenolic spice, dry extract, and an incisive depth. Of the full and powerful style rather than ethereal. This is drinking well now, feinherb like, but I think if the RS and acids had another ten years to mesh it would be something else. — 3 years ago
Deep yellow in the glass with yellow orchard fruits, berries and exotic citrus on the nose. Green plum, apricot, gooseberry, husk cherry on the palate, just ripe fruits with a grapefruit pith finish. Textured but dry and sharp, lacks seduction. Story may change in a few years. — 3 years ago
The 2019 La Fleur-Pétrus is pure and total seduction. Trotanoy and perhaps also Hosanna have traditionally been viewed as more exclusive Pomerols in the Moueix portfolio. The more time passes, the less I share that view. Sure, La Fleur-Pétrus does not have the mystique associated from a small single vineyard - as many Pomerols do - and yet there is no denying the elegance and class here. Bright red fleshed fruit, blood orange and exotic spice race across the palate, framed by silky, plush tannins that wrap it all together. La Fleur-Pétrus is fabulous. That's all there is to it. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, February 2022)
— 3 years ago
Amit Srivastava
Excellent blend! Deep purple and full bodied. — 10 months ago