Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 59

FOCUS: BURGUNDY
90 | Samuel Billaud

$30

2018 Chablis (Best Buy) ^ For this wine, Billaud works with vines planted between 1952
and 1987, vinifying the fruit in stainless steel.
It offers full-on richness of green pear and
ripe apple, lasting on a sunny, gingery buzz
in the focused limestone acidity. A contrast
of luscious and firm, this will meld those two
elements with a few years of bottle age. § Shiverick Imports, Los Angeles, CA

PETIT CHABLIS
278041

91 | Samuel Billaud

$27

2018 Petit Chablis (Best Buy) ^ Billaud's
domaine includes this parcel of clay-limestone Portlandian marls on the hill above the
grand cru Les Clos. Vinified in stainless steel,
it's a refreshing Chablis with an electric buzz
of green-apple acidity. It grows increasingly
round and lush with air, incorporating the
initially brash acidity into vibrant freshness. §
Shiverick Imports, Los Angeles, CA

BEAUNE
278369

94 | Domaine Chanson

$178

2018 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches ^
Chanson's domaine includes five acres of
chardonnay near the top of the Clos des
Mouches, the vines planted in a sandy soil
over limestone. It's immediately apparent
this is a wine with lovely ripeness, white pear
flesh filling out the middle, then extending
long into the finish. That initial promise is
fulfilled as the wine develops, powerful and
gracious, its elastic tension suddenly giving
way to a flood of pale, rich fruit. Luscious and
delicious, held in the mineral grip of limestone, this is a beautiful 2018 with decades of
life ahead. § Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
278546

93 | Domaine de Bellene

$130

2018 Beaune 1er Cru Les Perrières ^ Grand
in its complexity, this young Beaune already
presents detailed layers of supple fruit and
mineral power. The wine's bright gold color
glints in the same hue as the sun. Its clean
Asian-pear and lemongrass flavors seem like
they might be advanced; in fact, they are
just precocious, as the wine holds its freshness for days, and sustains that initial complexity. This is compelling to drink now, and
would be intriguing to cellar, to see what it
might become. § Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, OR
278044

91 | Louis Jadot

$48

and fresh nutmeats. But it's the suppleness
of the texture and the bright freshness of
the lees character that sets it apart. It would
make a special occasion out of a lemony roast
chicken. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY
278025

90 | Louis Jadot

$62

2017 Beaune-Grèves Domaine Gagey Les
Clos Blanc ^ The vines at this domaine parcel
were planted in 1986, their fruit delivering
an heirloom-apple flavor, a little tense, a little salty, a little white corn and citrus. Those
elements seem disparate at the moment, and
intriguing. Cellar this for a few years to watch
them come together. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY

BOUZERON
278024

90 | Louis Jadot

$29

2017 Bouzeron Domaine Gagey (Best Buy) ^
This aligoté grows at Jadot's holdings in Bouzeron. It's a wine of richness and delicacy,
and though there's nothing complex about
it, the wine is gracious and satisfying, a textural pleasure to enjoy with roast chicken and
mushrooms. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY

CHASSAGNE-MONTRAC HET
278092

94 | Lucien Le Moine

$170

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot ^ This is overtly rich, a vast, robust wine
with savory layers of flavor. It's youthfully
energized and richly oaked, to the point that
tasters started riffing on foods that might
stand up to its sheer power, as if setting out
to please an oligarch who had booked a table
in their dining room: Squash ravioli in brown
butter? Fresh white perch off the grill? Liberty duck breast seared rare...? § Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
278075

92 | Louis Jadot

$106

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet Abbaye de
Morgeot ^ Yellow peach and ginger scents
emerge from the initial notes of tight green
fruit and clarified butter. This needs two days
of air to show itself, giving up its crackedgreen-peppercorn notes for savory refinement, the wine's complexity based on fruit
on the upside of ripeness, flowing in a narrow
stream of flavor. Jadot's domaine includes
just under 1.25 acres of vines near the ruins
of the abbey, where the soils are deep marls
and clay. This is well worth cellaring for eight
to ten years. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY
278378

92 | Domaine Fernand &
Laurent Pillot

$105

90 | Pascal Clément

$120

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les
Vergers ^ With the richness and floral sweetness of raw honey, this wine is supple and
juicy up front, then tart and malic in the end.
The intensity of the acidity melds into the
wine as it evolves with air, integrating with
the fruit, so a kiss of honey sticks to the lips
even as the wine remains clean. A youthful, dynamic Chassagne with a bright future
ahead. § Taub Family Selections, Boca Raton, FL
278029
2018 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La
Maltroie Chardonnay ^ This feels cool and
substantial, a broad Chassagne with notes of
fresh summer corn and dried grains. Underneath that corn-silk scent, there's creaminess
and a delicate saffron note, leading one panelist to connect this with Persian saffron rice. §
Valkyrie Selections, Healdsburg, CA
278023

90 | Louis Jadot

$79

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet ^ A potent and
heady Chassagne, this is youthfully reductive
and needs time with oxygen to show itself.
The hard edge of the reduction mellows as
does the peppery arugula-like greenness,
allowing the wine's fresh nut and butterbrickle flavors to emerge, crisp, clean and
lasting on spice. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY

CORTON
278370

91 | Domaine Chanson

$205

2018 Corton-Vergennes Grand Cru ^ Tight
and youthful, this is a concentrated grand
cru with cool ripe flavors of melon and white
peach. It opens gracefully with air, the flavors
still tucked behind powerful grape-skin tannins, as yet to give any clues about its deeper
complexities. For the cellar. § Vintus, Pleasantville, NY

MACON
278031

90 | Sylvaine & Alain
	Normand

$25

2018 Mâcon La Roche Vineuse (Best Buy) ^
Fresh apple and pale chamomile flavors fill
this wine with a clean, lovely sense of concentrated fruit. It offers the simplicity of a
well-grown Mâconnais chardonnay, ready to
make a lively contribution to dinner, especially if it's sea bass roasted with fennel. § Vintage '59 Imports, Washington, DC

2017 Beaune Domaine Gagey ^ This is a simple wine with a beautiful shape and contour
to its fruit. The flavors are creamy and rich
with yellow plum, ripe Northern Spy apple
WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

59
Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020
