Country: | France |
Region: | Burgundy |
Winery: | Courtault-Michelet |
Grape Type: | Chardonnay |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Michelet Petit Chablis is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Golden color. White flowers, fresh, lime and citrus aromas. Pleasant mouthfeel, supple, crisp, fruity flavors.
Machine harvested at full maturity (around Sep. 25th - lasts 12-18 days); pneumatic press; fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for 8-10 days; M.L (2 months after the harvest); aging on the lees until February; racking; fining if necessary; cold stabilization; filtration right before bottling in April.
Ideal as an aperitif, the wine is an excellent companion to seafood.
Michelet Courtaullt Chablis AOC is made from 100% Chardonnay.
Golden colored and very aromatic with white flowers, fresh fruit, lime, citrus aromas as well as a bergamot. Pleasant mouthfeel, supple, crisp, fruity flavors. There is a touch of acidity, revealing a deliciously integrated minerality.This Chablis is produced from vineyards located on slopes benefiting from a mainly south, southwest sun exposure in villages of the Northwestern part of the Chablis area (Lignorelles, Beine, Villy and Chablis).
Ideal as an aperitif, the wine is an excellent companion to seafood, smoked salmon for example.
Cellier du Chateau de la Chaume Petit Chablis is made from 100 percent Chablis.
Color: Pale yellow
Bouquet: White flowers, honeysuckle, linden tree and dried fruits.
Palate: Very pleasant, balanced with tension and nice minerality
Drink as an Aperitif or pair with fish, shellfish.
B Leighton Petit Verdot is made from 100 percent Petit Verdot.
Dark and brooding. Vibrant, beautiful and tantalizes the senses with violets, black cassis, pipe tobacco and forest floor. Elegant, fresh, deep and refined. It continues with black raspberry, ocean breeze, orange zest and a touch of fresh herbs. Need I say more? Drink up, buttercup.
Review:
Bright ruby-red. Inky blackberry, licorice and menthol on the slightly portiike nase. Dense, sweet and surprisingly supple on the plate but,with a touch of inkiness to its broad blackcurrant, blackberry, licorice and graphite flavors. An element of peppery vinosity contrioutes to the impression of firmness, as do the tight tannins. This very long, savory Wine is stil a bit folded in on itself and will quire patience. Inerestingly, Leighton keeps this wine on its skin for "only" 35 days, which is actually less than many of his other red wines under the B. Leighton, K Vintners and Wines of Substance labels. He also destems this, fruit.
-Stephen Tanzer 92+ Points
Crown Point Estate Selection is made from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot.
The 2017 Crown Point Estate Selection is an engaging wine with notes of red fruit, strawberries, and vibrant floral tones of violets in harmony with toasted coffee notes. On the palate, the wine displays a gentle sweetness married with fine grain tannins, a velvety texture providing a long finish.
Review:
There's a purity to the nose of this bottling that reveals deep, lush waves of boysenberry paste alongside a savory tone of charred beef. Polished tannins frame the sip, where ample amounts of rich black plum and blackberry are enhanced by caramel, coffee bean and mocha flavors, with acidity holding tight into the finish.
Wine Enthusiast 96 Point
Long Shadows Chester Kidder is made from 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 15% Petit Verdot
Allen Shoup named this wine in honor of his mother, Elizabeth Chester, and his grandmother, Maggie Kidder. He selected Long Shadows' director of winemaking and viticulture, Gilles Nicault, to craft this New World blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and other classic Bordeaux varieties.
Select Cabernet Sauvignon lots underwent an extended maceration of 40 days to produce supple yet firm tannins that stand up to 30 months of barrel aging in tight-grained French oak barrels (85% new). The extra time in barrel helped to integrate the fruit, enhance the mid-palate with an extra layer of complexity, and provide an appealing earthiness to the finish.
Review:
The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated 2017 Chester Kidder is another more closed, reserved wine that's loaded with potential. Cassis, toasted spices, violets, and leafy herb notes give way to a rich, full-bodied red that has ripe, velvety tannins, a rounded, mouth-filling texture, and one heck of a great finish. Give bottles 3-5 years if you can and it should be very long lived.
-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points
Golden color. White flowers, fresh, lime and citrus aromas. Pleasant mouthfeel, supple, crisp, fruity flavors.
Machine harvested at full maturity (around Sep. 25th - lasts 12-18 days); pneumatic press; fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for 8-10 days; M.L (2 months after the harvest); aging on the lees until February; racking; fining if necessary; cold stabilization; filtration right before bottling in April.
Ideal as an aperitif, the wine is an excellent companion to seafood.
Domaine Courtault-Michelet Estate
This is a new Estate, founded by Stephanie Courtault and her husband Vincent Michelet.
Stephany is the daughter of Jean Claude Courtault, who runs a family winery founded in 1984. Jean Claude arrived in Lignorelles in 1974 to work as a vineyard manager for one of the village's wine estates. In 1984, JC Courtault purchased 1.5 hectare of 4 year old vines in the Chablis area. Then, he rented a piece of land in the Chablis appellation area that he planted with the help of his wife, Marie-Chantal. This dynamic estate aims to fuse tradition with modernity.
Date Founded: 1984
A native of Touraine, Jean-Claude Courtault arrived at Lignorelles in 1974 to work as Vineyard Manager for one of the village's wine estates.
In 1984, JC Courtault seized the chance to buy 1.5 hectares of 4 year old vines in the Chablis area. Next, he rented a plot of land in the Chablis appellation area, which he then planted up with the help of his wife, Marie-Chantal. And so the Estate Jean-Claude Courtault came into being.
JC Courtault enlarged and worked his vineyard over time, whilst still fulfilling his duties as Vineyard Manager. He began producing wine, and in 1987, the process of bottling and marketing started. That year's wine was rewarded with a gold medal at the "Concours Général des Vins de Paris" competition. This medal was just the first of many awards and prizes that have punctuated JC Courtault's career, a mark of the quality and consistency of his wines.
The 1994 edition of the Guide Hachette gave something of a commercial boost to the Estate Jean-Claude Courtault, after it awarded the 1992 Chablis a favourite buy distinction.
In 1995, with the estate boasting a dozen hectares of Chablis and Petit Chablis, Jean-Claude Courtault decided to devote himself to wine-growing on a full-time basis. He built a wine storehouse that included all the features necessary for optimal operating efficiency.
The estate has continued to develop its vineyard and now boasts a total of 17.60 hectares in production. This development drive is due to continue, with the arrival of Stéphanie, daughter of JC and MC Courtault, and her husband, Vincent Michelet. From now on it will be up to them to take up the challenge of producing Chablis wines.
The estate produces three of the four appellations found in the Chablis wine-growing region : Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru and Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
Some 50,000 bottles are sold in France and abroad.
Domaine Courtault-Michelet Vineyards
The wines of the Estate Jean-Claude Courtault are particularly renowned for their strong fruit character, the wine-grower's signature, if you like. These wines are regularly singled out for their quality, as can be seen in the Guide Hachette and various competitions - concours de Paris, Mâcon, Vignerons Indépendants. The Estate Jean-Claude Courtault sells and produces wines that have come from the estate's own vines.
The estate's vines are planted in accordance with the tradition of the Lignorelles area, in other words, every 5 rows, sufficient space is left for a tractor to pass. Planting density is on average around 6000 to 7000 vines per hectare, roughly equivalent to the mean for the Chablis wine-growing region.
This vineyard is sited on relatively hilly ground. Some plots have required considerable work on them before planting, with gradients of up to 1 in 2.5 (40%) possible. The oldest plots have 35 year-old vines.
Grape Harvest generally begins at the end of September and lasts between 12 to 18 days, depending on the year. Our main aim is to harvest the grapes at their optimal ripeness. This allows us to obtain a higher sugar content in the grapes whilst still maintaining pH and acidity at the levels needed to make a well-balanced wine.
Weingut Prager Achleiten Riesling Smaragd is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Franz Prager, co-founder of the Vinea Wachau, had already earned a reputation for his wines when Toni Bodenstein married into the family. Bodenstein’s passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers.
Smaragd is a designation of ripeness for dry wines used exclusively by members of the Vinea Wachau. The wines must have a minimum alcohol of 12.5%. The grapes are hand-harvested, typically in October and November, and are sent directly to press where they spontaneously ferment in stainless-steel tanks.
Achleiten sits east of Weißenkirchen and is one of the most famous vineyards in the Wachau. The steeply-terraced vineyard existed in Roman times. Some sections have just 40 cm of topsoil over the bedrock of Gföler Gneiss, amphibolitic stone, and slate. “Destroyed soil,” as Toni Bodenstein likes to say.
Tasting Notes:
Austrian Riesling is often defined by elevated levels of dry extract thanks to a lengthy ripening period and freshness due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night. Wines from Achleiten’s highly complex soils are famously marked by a mineral note of flint or gun smoke, are intensely flavored, and reliably long-lived.
Food Pairing:
Riesling’s high acidity makes it one of the most versatile wines at the table. Riesling can be used to cut the fattiness of foods such as pork or sausages and can tame some saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette might.
Review:
The 2020 Ried Achleiten Riesling Smaragd offers a well-concentrated, fleshy and spicy stone fruit aroma with crunchy and flinty notes. It needs some time to get rid of the stewed fruit flavors, though. Full-bodied, fresh and crystalline, this is an elegant, complex and finely tannic Riesling that needs some years rather than a carafe to polymerize the tannins and gain some finesse. Tasted at the domain in June 2021.
At Prager, I could not determine that 2020 would be inferior to the 2019 vintage; on the contrary, the 2020 Smaragd wines fascinated me enormously in their clear, cool, terroir-tinged way. A 38% loss had occurred mainly because of the hail on August 22, although predominantly in the Federspiel or Riesling vineyards. There was no damage in the top vineyards such as Ried Klaus, Achleiten or Zwerithaler. "Interestingly, the vines are in agony for about two weeks after the hail. There was no more growth, no development of ripeness and sugar," reports Toni Bondenstein. The Veltliner then recovered earlier, while even picking a Riesling Federspiel in October was still a struggle. "Why Riesling reacted more intensively to the hail, I don't know myself either," says Bodenstein. Whole clusters were pressed to preserve acidity and to compensate for the lower extract, and compared to 2019, the 2020s were left on their lees longer. In June, however, the 20s in particular showed outstanding early shape.
-Wine Advocate 94 Points
Light yellow-green, silver reflections. Yellow stone fruit nuances with a mineral underlay, notes of peach and mango, a hint of tangerine zest, mineral touch. Juicy, elegant, white fruit, acidity structure rich in finesse, lemony-salty finish, sure aging potential.
-Falstaff 95 Points
Gold, 92 points, LA Invitational
Gold, 91 points, Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition
Gold, Virginia Governor's Cup
Gold, Monticello Cup Wine Competition
Tasting notes:
Our 2017 Blanc de Blanc is made with 100% estate-grown Chardonnay. Aged for a minimum of 36 months on lees. Bright green apple and fresh citrus notes with layers of brioche and yeast complexity. An excellent balance of acidity, creamy mousse, and textures that persist with a long and elegant finish.
Pair with any special occasion. Make a Tuesday dinner special. Enjoy with mild cheeses, scallops, or serve as an aperitif.