Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Bret Brothers 2022 Pouilly-Fuissé Climat En Carementrant
French White
Chardonnay comes from a 0.55-hectare parcel at about 350 metres beneath the Roche de Vergisson. The vines are fifty to sixty years old and face south on clay-limestone soil with a high limestone content. Grapes are harvested by hand and pressed as whole clusters. Vinification and maturation take place entirely in 228-litre barrels for eleven months. The vineyard is farmed organically.
Domaine des Marnes Blanches 2022 Côtes du Jura Chardonnay Empreinte Sous Voile
French White
Fresh walnut, curry and dried apple appear in the aromas. The palate is firm and taut, with salinity and oxidative complexity. The finish is very long. Chardonnay grows on pink and grey Lias marl at Sainte-Agnès. The grapes are pressed directly into neutral barrels; one fifth of each barrel is left empty to encourage flor. Ageing under flor lasts thirty-four months. Alcohol is 14.5 percent.
CheckMate Artisanal Winery 2021 Fool’s Mate Chardonnay
Canadian White
The aromas include brioche, Meyer lemon, orange blossom and flint. Crème fraîche, crisp stone fruit and freshly baked bread appear on the palate, with a long mineral finish. Orchard fruit, melon, pear, nectarine and vanilla provide further detail. Fifty-four percent of the Chardonnay was aged in French oak barriques, twenty-five percent in foudre and twenty-one percent in a concrete egg.
Champagne Fleury Fleur de l’Europe Brut Nature NV
French Sparkling
Brilliant gold colour accompanies honey and acacia aromas. The palate is broad and generous, with freshness, tension, salinity and a long mineral finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay form the blend. The vineyards are certified biodynamic, and the grapes are harvested by hand. The wine receives zero dosage and spends at least three years on the lees.
Champagne Gounel-Lassalle Le Haut Belai Premier Cru Brut Nature NV
French Sparkling
Flint and biscuit minerality appear with grilled mango, red apple, honeysuckle, pear and blackcurrant. Almond, toast and brioche add savoury detail. The palate is rich, fresh and creamy, with lemon, pomelo, oak and a broad, harmonious finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay come from the Le Haut Belai parcel in Ludes. The subsoil combines limestone and flint, and vinification uses oak foudres and barrels.
Piper-Heidsieck 2012 Vintage Brut Champagne
French Sparkling
Tangerine, apricot, vine peach, mango, honeysuckle blossom, gingerbread and cocoa define the aromatic profile. The blend is fifty-two percent Pinot Noir and forty-eight percent Chardonnay. Ageing on the lees lasts more than five years, followed by at least twelve months after disgorgement. Fresh citrus, smoked notes, almond, pomegranate, honey, black cherry and blueberry are also present. The wine contains twelve percent alcohol.
Kistler 2014 McCrea Vineyard Chardonnay Sonoma Mountain
American White
Pineapple paste, honey-nut, guava, cashews and brioche appear with a satiny texture and zippy acidity. Dried pear, almond, savoury herbs and dried flowers are also present, together with a persistent finish. The vineyard lies on the eastern bench of Sonoma Mountain. Its soils combine volcanic material and limestone. Floral and citrus-blossom aromas and a chalk-like fruit core are part of the site profile.
White Walnut Estate 2023 Worden Hill Road Chardonnay
American White
White peach, white pepper, saline and seashell notes accompany tight citrus acidity. Flinty spice and lemon verbena are present with lime zest and fresh flowers. The medium-bodied palate is tangy, mineral, vivid and vibrant, with a clean, fresh character and a Chablis-like feel. Its linear shape remains ripe and energetic. Fruit comes from a Chardonnay site along Worden Hill Road in the Willamette Valley.
Champagne Legras & Haas Les Visions Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut NV
French Sparkling
Chardonnay from parcels across Chouilly forms this Grand Cru blanc de blancs. The palate has breadth and a particularly creamy middle, while the finish is fresh and persistent. Honeysuckle, citrus, elderflower and pear appear throughout the profile. The cuvée draws on most of the village’s terroirs. Wines made with and without malolactic fermentation are combined; stainless-steel and oak-barrel components are also used.
Thierry Pillot 2022 Bourgogne Blanc
French White
Fruit comes from vines more than forty years old in Puligny-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin. The wine ferments and matures for one year in older 350-litre barrels, followed by six months in stainless steel. Citrus, floral and green-apple aromas accompany succulent, round and vibrant middleweight flavours. Fine weight, depth and a touch of spice are present, with a fresh, citric character. The vineyards are farmed organically.
Olivier Leflaive 2014 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Pierres
French White
Chardonnay grows on clay-limestone soil over a rocky bank at 230 to 250 metres. The grapes are hand harvested, pressed immediately and gently, and lightly filtered. Ageing lasts sixteen months in barrel, including four months after the lots are assembled; twenty percent of the oak is new. Citron, earth, pear, sap and mineral elements appear in an intense, structured profile with a long, supple finish. Alcohol is twelve-and-a-half percent.
Champagne Nicolas Maillart Brut Rosé Grand Cru NV
French Sparkling
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are blended at sixty to forty, with seven percent still wine. Skin maceration lasted fifty-two hours; fermentation was divided equally between steel and oak. Wild strawberry, cherry and raspberry appear with rock salt and a chalky foundation. The skin contact gives a gentle blush and additional texture, while dosage is six grams per litre.
Champagne Voirin-Jumel 2015 Millésime Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs
French Sparkling
Chardonnay comes exclusively from Grand Cru vineyards on the lower slopes of the Côte des Blancs, where chalk is prominent. The wine is made from a single harvest year and does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Lees maturation lasts for at least eight years. The style is Brut. The vineyards connect the villages of Cramant, Avize and Oger.
Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs NV
French Sparkling
Grand Cru Chardonnay from chalk soils is vinified in stainless-steel tanks. Reserve wines form part of the blend, and maturation on the lees extends for four to five years before disgorgement. The profile is mineral and chalky. After disgorgement, ageing continues in bottle. Serve around eight degrees Celsius in a tulip-shaped wine glass to allow the mineral character to develop.
Champagne Tarlant Rosé Zéro Brut Nature NV
French Sparkling
A blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier forms this rosé Champagne. First fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel and oak barrels, while reserve wines mature in barrels. The cuvée combines white and red wines, and disgorgement is carried out by hand. Dosage is zero grams per litre, placing the wine in the Brut Nature style.
Domaine Billaud-Simon 2023 Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre
French White
White-gold colour with green reflections accompanies mineral and spice notes. The Chardonnay shows freshness, sweet fruit and floral detail, with body and an oily texture. The Montée de Tonnerre climat lies beside the former Roman road linking Auxerre and Tonnerre, where the route climbs toward the plateau. A serving temperature of ten to twelve degrees Celsius is recommended.
Alice et Olivier De Moor 2023 Nuova Descriptio Vin de France
French White
The blend combines sixty percent Sauvignon Blanc with twenty percent Aligoté and twenty percent Chardonnay. Sauvignon Blanc is divided between direct pressing into amphora and whole-bunch maceration in tank. Aligoté macerates on skins in tank, while Chardonnay is directly pressed and ferments in barrel. The finished wine is lightly filtered and has gentle grip and bitterness. The organically farmed fruit is harvested by hand.
Champagne Forget-Brimont 2012 Millésime Premier Cru Brut
French Sparkling
Pale gold colour and fine, persistent bubbles accompany green apple, apricot and white peach. The wine is made from forty percent Pinot Noir, forty percent Meunier and twenty percent Chardonnay. The soils are mainly chalky across Premier and Grand Cru villages. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel, and malolactic fermentation is completed. Bottle ageing lasts about eight to ten years. Dosage is four grams per litre.
Champagne Tarlant Zéro Brut Nature NV
French Sparkling
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier each account for thirty-two percent of the blend; Petit Meslier, Arbanne and Pinot Blanc make up the remaining four percent. The wine has no dosage. The soils include chalk, clay-chalk, flint, silica sand and limestone. Slow gravity pressing, spontaneous fermentation and six months on the lees in French oak are used. Bottle maturation generally lasts five to six years, and the wine is not fined.
Taittinger Brut Réserve FIFA World Cup 26 Limited Edition NV
French Sparkling
Fine bubbles accompany delicate fruit and honey aromas. The flavour is balanced, fresh, elegant and refined. The non-vintage blend is forty percent Chardonnay, thirty-five percent Pinot Noir and twenty-five percent Pinot Meunier, sourced from more than forty vineyards and four different vintages. The Chardonnay proportion contributes to the fresh character. The wine contains 12.5 percent alcohol.
CheckMate Artisanal Winery 2021 Queen Taken Chardonnay
Canadian White
Rosewater, ginger and Asian pear appear in the aromas. Grilled pineapple, rosemary and ripe apricot are present on the palate. The wine is tense and textural, with a savoury finish. It comes from the Dekleva Vineyard southwest of Oliver, where Chardonnay vines approach fifty years of age. The vineyard sits beneath Mount Kobau and the Thompson Plateau and includes the distinctive Dekleva clone.
Domaine Vincent & François Jouard 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes
French White
Almond, hazelnut, ripe apple and honey appear in a rich, structured white with fruit, finesse and power. The Chardonnay comes from vines more than fifty years old in rocky clay-limestone soil over white stones. Fermentation takes place in French oak. Maturation lasts twelve months in barrel, with ten percent new oak. The wine contains fifteen percent alcohol.
Julien Guillot 2017 Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée Léandre L’Homme Lion
French White
Bright and vivid, with energy. The palate is rich and salty, with a firm backbone, length, intensity, nuance and layers of complexity. The Chardonnay spent forty-three months ageing, and only one barrel was made. No sulphur was added. The wine comes from the Mâconnais in Burgundy and is certified organic. Precise reduction and texture are also present.
Au Pied du Mont Chauve 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet En Pimont
French White
Green herb and toast accompany bright, fresh fruit. White grapefruit and lemon are juicy and mouthwatering, with white pepper and a steely, long finish. The profile is concentrated. This dry white is made entirely from Chardonnay and contains 13.5 percent alcohol. The vineyard has a thin clay-limestone topsoil and was planted in the mid-1970s. Maturation lasts eighteen months on fine lees, including at least ten months in wood.
Champagne Girard-Bonnet A Mi-Chemin Grand Cru Extra-Brut
French Sparkling
White flowers accompany minerality and sharp but non-aggressive acidity. The wine is made entirely from Grand Cru Chardonnay, split equally between Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Indigenous yeasts are used in tank and barrel, and the wine is aged on its lees. The soils include rendzina and calcareous brown soils over chalk, plus calcareous brown soils on valley-floor colluvium.
Champagne Domaine Hélène 2019 Vertus Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Vieilles Vignes
French Sparkling
Fresh and baked green apple, lemon pith, lemon peel, bitter almond and white blossom appear with wet chalk. The profile has a structural frame and a subtle oxidative touch. Old vines in Vertus Premier Cru supply all the Chardonnay. Native fermentation takes place in stainless steel and older wood. Lees ageing lasts four years, and dosage is zero. The finish retains a chalk note.
Hundred Hills 2018 Illustration No. 1 English Sparkling Wine
British Sparkling
Yellow plum, apricot, ripe red apple skin and raspberry appear with salinity and baking spice. Orchard and stone fruit have a juicy character, while pastry notes carry a caramelised aroma and the palate has broad weight. The blend is seventy-two percent Pinot Noir and twenty-eight percent Chardonnay. Partial malolactic fermentation, oak and stainless steel are used, and lees ageing lasts forty months. Dosage is four grams per litre.
Champagne Gardet 2015 130 Anniversary Millésime Extra-Brut
French Sparkling
Golden-yellow colour and fine bubbles accompany pear, quince, white peach, jasmine, acacia, sugared almond and roasted hazelnut. The profile is fresh, creamy and full, with lemon, brioche, mineral and citrus-zest notes. The blend is seventy percent Pinot Noir and thirty percent Chardonnay. Bottle ageing on the lees lasted more than eight years, and dosage is four grams per litre.
Veuve Clicquot 2015 Vintage Brut Champagne
French Sparkling
Bright yellow colour accompanies tension, verticality, minerality and energy. Toast, roasted coffee bean and praline appear with orange, grapefruit, lemon peel, biscuit, brioche, marmalade, dried apricot, date, roasted almond, hazelnut and honey. The blend is fifty percent Pinot Noir, thirty percent Chardonnay and twenty percent Meunier. Ten percent of the wines were produced in oak casks, and dosage is six grams per litre.
Domaine d’Hélène 2017 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Extra Brut Champagne
French Sparkling
Floral, fruit and mineral character accompany this sparkling Chardonnay from old vines in Oger, Avize and Cramant. The wine was fermented with native yeasts and vinified in both tank and barrel. Production totalled two thousand bottles. Its maker comes from a winegrowing family in Cramant that dates to 1891 and previously worked at estates in Burgundy and Corsica.