Chartron & Trebuchet Puligny-Montrachet 2012

Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseigneres is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.

Les Enseigneres is a coveted village lieu-dit in Puligny-Montrachet, sited right against the great slope near Batard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet, a village-level parcel that consistently reaches toward Premier Cru quality. Domaine Chavy-Chouet of Meursault works old vines here, some sixty-five years of age, on clay and limestone.

Fermented with native yeasts and aged a year in French oak with a fifth new, it is a Puligny to seek out: white peach and citrus over a core of wet-stone minerality, with the tension, depth and long finish that mark the finest whites of the village.

Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Folatieres is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.

Les Folatieres is among the most celebrated Premier Cru climats of Puligny-Montrachet, climbing a steep, mid-slope incline of thin, marly limestone with the bedrock never far below the surface. In the cellar of Domaine Chavy-Chouet in Meursault it becomes a benchmark white Burgundy, drawn from vines of around fifty years.

Fermented on native yeasts and raised a year in French oak with a fifth new, it is concentrated yet precise, layering ripe citrus and orchard fruit over flint and crushed stone, with the drive, depth and long, saline finish that reward a few years in the cellar.

Florence Cholet Puligny-Montrachet is made from Chardonnay.

Florence Cholet took the reins of her family's fourth-generation domaine in Corcelles-les-Arts (just east of Puligny and Meursault) in 2019, renaming it from Domaine Christian Cholet-Pelletier. Master's in oenology, with stints at Chapoutier, Château de Pibarnon, Walla Walla and Australia behind her. Roughly 5–7.5 ha across Bourgogne, Saint-Romain, Auxey-Duresses, Meursault and Puligny. No herbicides or pesticides, ploughed vineyards, hand-harvesting, wild-yeast fermentations since 2017, and a deliberately light hand with new oak.

The 2024: blended from her usual Puligny lieux-dits Les Levrons (60-year-old vines) and La Rousselle (30 years), supplemented this vintage by fruit from Les Enseignères — one of Puligny's great lieux-dits, sitting right beside Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard, with 70-year-old vines — because 2024's crop was so small. That's an unusually strong parcel mix for a village bottling.

In the glass: classic Puligny — pale, slightly shy at first, then yellow apple, peach and melon with floral top notes and a faint spiced/licorice edge. Creamy, concentrated mid-palate, but the 2024 season's cool, wet run gives it fine, lively acidity and a mineral finish. Barrel presence is subtle: a whisper of vanilla, well integrated. ~13.5% abv.

Drinking window: good now with air, but it'll be better with 3–5 years in the cellar. Textbook food wine — shellfish, roast chicken, richer fish, soft cheeses.

Hahn Piesporter Michelsberg Riesling 2012 is made from 100 percent Riesling.

This wine appears fruit forward, light bodied and easy sipping with light effervescence. It is a wonderful summer sipper or aperitif wine. It will also accompany most light seafood, poultry and veal dishes.
The wine shows very nice fruits, mineral finesse with a very well balanced finish.

Hickinbotham Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Trueman represents Cabernet in Clarendon at its best. Its purity, its elegant style, its supple, polished nature ... it’s a wine of its own.Distinct in character, this is not like Cabernet from the Vales below or the hills to the east. From its pretty, delicate florals and musk, through to its silky blackcurrant and kalamata juice and down to its dark carbon soul - Trueman is a modern Cabernet that encapsulates all the toil and antiquity of Clarendon. Echoing the unearthed prose of wine writer Ebenezer Ward from 1886 on theCabernet sown from this very land – Trueman is “an excelled wine, of very marked flavor and bouquet”.

Review:

Deep garnet/purple, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Hickinbotham Vineyard has a classic nose showing pronounced fresh blackcurrant and blackberry highlighted by cloves, menthol, pencil shavings and earth notes. Medium to full-bodied, taut and muscular, the palate has grainy tannins, nice freshness and a long finish.

-Wine Advocate 93 Points

Morlet Family Vineyards Billet Doux Late Harvest Semillon 2012 (half-bottle) is made from Sémillon (65%) Sauvignon Blanc (31%) Muscat à Petits Grains (4%)

rowing in the gravelly soil of an ancient riverbed in the beautiful Alexander Valley, the old vines benefit from hot afternoons and cool, foggy mornings, favorable for the development of Botrytis (Noble Rot). Extremely small yields in the Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat vineyards lead to the immensely concentrated fruit. Just as one receives a note from one’s sweetheart, we present this wine as a precious ‘Love Note’ or ‘Billet Doux.’

Deep crystal clear gold. Intense and complex bouquet of dry apricot, pêche de vigne and Reine Claude yellow plum intermixed with notes of quince, honey, Muscat and a hint of sweet vanilla. Full bodied, the palate is reminiscent of the nose, with a creamy sweet texture and a great intensity. The large amount of sugar and glycerin creates a highlighted viscosity. Along with the wine’s great concentration, richness and opulence, the classical aromatic complexity reveals a flamboyant yet harmonious ensemble, leading to a very long, complex and smooth finish.

Proprietary name ‘Billet Doux’

Name meaning Love Note 

Type of wine Late harvest white wine

Appellation Alexander Valley

Vineyard singularity 25-60 year old vines Loamy and gravelly soils from an ancient river bed One cluster per shoot ‘de rigueur’

Typical harvest date November Picking Manual, small lugs, refrigerated truck

Sorting Cluster by cluster

Fermentation In barrel through native yeast

Upbringing 16 months French Oak from selected artisan Coopers

Bottling Unfined, filtered to prevent Malolactic

Cellaring time Decades

Serving Chilled and decanted

Review:

Produced from 65% Sémillon, 31% Sauvignon Blanc and 4% Muscat, the 2012 Billet Doux has a medium golden color and profoundly scented nose of beeswax, honeyed nuts, orange marmalade, Manuka honey and preserved lemons. Full-bodied, full-on sweet, rich, concentrated and oh-so-unctuous, it delivers powerful flavor layers and epic length. 175 cases were made.

-Wine Advocate 97 Points