White
White
Henri de Villamont 2023 Savigny-lès-Beaune Le Village Blanc
French White
Straw-yellow colour with golden tints accompanies white flowers, pear and peach. Citrus and mineral notes appear with white peach, crunchy apple and honey. The Chardonnay is structured and fresh, with a long finish. Fruit comes from a young domaine monopole parcel. The unsulphured harvest receives its first sulphur addition after malolactic conversion, and the wine rests eleven months in oak barrels.
Josmeyer 2017 H Vieilles Vignes Pinot Auxerrois
French White
Mirabelle and apricot appear with mineral and saline detail. The Pinot Auxerrois is fleshy and chalky, with long bitter notes. Grapes are harvested entirely by hand and whole-cluster pressed for about seven hours. After natural settling, spontaneous fermentation takes place in a century-old foudre. The wine rests on fine lees for several months before filtration and bottling.
Forge Cellars 2020 Freese Dry Riesling
American White
White pepper, apricot and saline detail appear in a dry Riesling. Fruit comes from Freese Vineyard on the east side of Seneca Lake at Lodi, where gentle slopes sit on loam with shale. Grapes were hand harvested, sorted and whole-cluster pressed. Indigenous-yeast fermentation took place in barrel. Residual sugar is 2.5 grams per litre, with 580 cases produced.
Chateau Ste. Michelle 2013 Ethos Reserve Chardonnay
American White
Toasted oak, poached pear, butter and nutmeg accompany pear, crème brûlée and Golden Delicious apple. The Chardonnay is rich, full-bodied and textured, with peach and a long finish. Fruit comes primarily from Canoe Ridge Estate and Cold Creek vineyards. The wine spends nine months on its lees in French oak, using thirty-six percent new, sixty percent one-year-old and four percent two-year-old barrels.
Pax 2017 Buddha’s Dharma Vineyard Chenin Blanc
American White
Melon, wool, Mirabelle plum and flowers appear with exotic fruit and spice. The Chenin Blanc is fresh and long. Vines were planted in nineteen forty-four on gravelly volcanic soils and are dry farmed without chemicals. Grapes are whole-cluster pressed. Ambient fermentation and full malolactic conversion take place in neutral French oak and new Stockinger Austrian barrels, followed by ten months in the same vessels.
Domaine Billaud-Simon 2014 Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu
French White
Lemon and crisp green apple appear in a ripe, juicy Chardonnay. Citrus, spice and floral notes accompany a mineral, finely cut profile with roundness and substance. The wine has a textured, tight character and persistent mineral detail. Fruit comes from Mont de Milieu in Chablis Premier Cru. Ageing takes place in both tank and barrel, with fifteen thousand five hundred bottles produced.
Pierre Gaillard 2018 Saint-Joseph Blanc
French White
Yellow stone fruit, pastry and honey appear in this white. The Roussanne is round and rich, with a fresh finish. Fruit comes from granitic sand in Malleval and Chavanay, grown on south-east-facing hilltops. Grapes are hand harvested, gently pressed and settled. Barrel fermentation uses no new wood, followed by nine months on lees with stirring.
Forge Cellars 2020 Wagner Caywood East Dry Riesling
American White
Apricot, quince and ripe peach accompany lemon peel and flinty mineral notes. The Riesling has concentration, fresh acidity and structure. Fruit comes from a high-elevation vineyard on shale soils east of Seneca Lake. The long, windswept site has a steep slope, reaches the crest and includes bands of gravelly soil. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in neutral barrel.
Coulter Wines 2022 C4 Eden Valley Riesling
Australian White
Green apple, lime sorbet and wet limestone appear in a finely focused Riesling. The wine is linear and persistent, with racy acidity and a long, steely finish. Fruit comes from Eden Valley in South Australia, and the style is bone dry. The producer works with grower fruit and makes its wines in a former church at Uleybury in the Adelaide Hills.
Domaine Besson 2020 Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons
French White
Pale yellow colour accompanies white blossom and yellow fruit. The Chardonnay is round and generous, with yellow-fruit flavour. Grapes come from 2.46 hectares of clay-limestone soils in Vaillons. Slow, low-pressure pressing precedes fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel, with eight percent fermented in oak. Lees ageing lasts eighteen months in steel, with a small portion kept in oak barrels.
Domaine Marcel Richaud 2021 Cairanne Blanc
French White
White flowers, nectarine, orange peel and honey appear in a velvety white. White-fruit flavours, salinity and freshness accompany a rich profile. The blend includes Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Bourboulenc, Marsanne and Vermentino. Grapes are hand harvested, and the farming is organic. Most fermentation and ageing take place in concrete, with a smaller portion using 600-litre oak vessels.
Duckhorn 2015 Napa Valley Chardonnay
American White
Nectarine, vanilla and cream accompany pear, peach, chai and wildflowers. The Chardonnay has a bright entry and a rich, silky texture, with delicate French-oak detail and a long mineral finish. Fermentation uses French oak, with lees stirring. Cooperage is ninety percent French oak and ten percent stainless steel, followed by ten months of barrel ageing. Alcohol is 14.1 percent.
Jean Foillard 2023 Beaujolais Blanc
French White
White flowers, green apple and pear appear with citrus and a saline mineral finish. The Chardonnay comes from a 1.4-hectare parcel at Pizay, planted with vines ten to fifteen years old. Whole clusters receive a three-day cold maceration before pressing. Half the wine is vinified in concrete, while the remainder uses old barrels and sandstone jars. Production totalled around twelve thousand bottles.
Forge Cellars 2020 Peach Orchard Dry Riesling
American White
Honeysuckle and orange blossom accompany white peach and mirabelle plum. Wet stone and lemon pith are also present in this dry Riesling. Fruit comes from the east side of Seneca Lake, on Howard gravelly silt loam. Grapes were hand harvested, sorted and whole-cluster pressed. Indigenous-yeast fermentation took place in barrel, with 3.6 grams per litre of residual sugar.
Domaine Desvignes 2019 Givry Blanc En Chenèves
French White
Pure Chardonnay fruit and floral notes appear in a crisp, precise white. The blend is ninety percent Chardonnay and ten percent Pinot Blanc. Fruit comes from a north-east-facing site at the foot of the Givry slope, on clay-limestone soil. Grapes are gently pressed and settled before slow fermentation in French oak. Fine-lees ageing continues for twelve months in barrel.
1006 Vins de Loire 2021 Celeste Chenin Blanc
French White
Chenin from a single parcel of twenty-five-year-old vines grows on sandstone and puddingstone soils in Anjou. The plot was in its second year of conversion to organic farming. Grapes are hand harvested and pressed slowly into French oak, where fermentation begins with natural yeast. The wine spends seventeen months in second-fill French oak barrels and is made without animal products.
Crystallum 2024 The Agnes Chardonnay
South African White
Sliced bread, apple, nutmeg and lemon rind appear with wet-stone and seashell notes. The Chardonnay is creamy, fresh, medium-to-full-bodied and textural, with a salty finish. Spearmint and green apple are joined by butterscotch, golden apple, yellow pear and floral detail. The layered profile has a steely edge. Fruit comes from multiple vineyard sites in the Western Cape.
Tesselaarsdal 2021 Chardonnay
South African White
Citrus blossom, sweet lemongrass and lees spice accompany fine, dusty minerality. The Chardonnay has a compact, radiant profile and a long, gentle palate that is expressive, classical and restrained. Fruit comes from unirrigated vines in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. Six months of ageing uses fifty-eight percent old French oak, twenty-four percent amphorae and eighteen percent stainless steel. Alcohol is 12.75 percent.
Michael Gindl 2017 Buteo 12 Grüner Veltliner
Austrian White
Frosted grape pulp, underripe fuzzy peach and white spice accompany a long, wild finish. The Grüner Veltliner comes from biodynamically farmed vines in Hohenruppersdorf, within the Weinviertel. Grapes receive ten hours of skin contact before a slow eight-hour press. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in wood, and the wine then spends six months resting on its lees.
Brendan Stater-West 2022 Saumur Blanc
French White
Citrus and saline notes accompany a light Chenin Blanc. Fruit comes from a selection within the Les Chapaudaises parcel in Bizay, on a lower north-eastern slope. Clay, sand and loam lie above limestone at the site. Fermentation and vinification take place in stainless steel, with some fine lees retained during six months of maturation. Alcohol is 12.5 percent.
Borgogno 2022 Era Ora Langhe Riesling
Italian White
Petrol, quince and roasted peach appear with soft floral notes in a bone-dry Riesling. Yellow stone fruit and bright acidity accompany a wet-stone finish. Lime, apricot, yellow plum, hawthorn and menthol add further detail. Fermentation takes place mainly in steel, with a smaller oak portion, followed by time on fine lees, in steel and in bottle.
Bethel Heights Vineyard 2015 Estate Chardonnay
American White
White peach, spiced apple and baking bread meet shaved almond and allspice. The medium-bodied Chardonnay is fresh and expressive, with a core of stone fruit, toasted flavours and a pleasantly oily texture. Bright acidity and barrel toast are present alongside a sleek, supple texture. Fruit comes from the estate in Oregon's Willamette Valley, within the Eola-Amity Hills.
De Fermo 2021 Launegild Chardonnay
Italian White
Pear peel, banana, apricot, chamomile, herbs and straw meet a saline note in this Chardonnay. Freshness and smoothness remain in balance. Fruit grows between the Adriatic and Gran Sasso on limestone and clay soils. Soft pressing precedes spontaneous indigenous-yeast fermentation in oak without temperature control, followed by twelve months in tonneau. Straw-yellow colour completes the profile.
Pascal Jolivet 2024 Sancerre Blanc
French White
White fruit, orchard flowers and subtle smoke accompany a dry, mineral Sauvignon Blanc with elegance, perfume and depth. Fruit comes from chalky caillottes, clay-limestone terres blanches and silex soils in Sancerre. Musts are cold settled without enzymes. Each soil type ferments separately with natural yeast in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats before blending, slight filtration and seven months of ageing. The finished wine carries 12.5 percent alcohol.
WALT 2016 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
American White
Toasted hazelnut, white flowers, lemon verbena and peach appear alongside lemon curd and stone-fruit flavours. The Chardonnay has texture, tension and length, with bâtonnage and ageing on the lees among its production details. Subtle oak and bright minerality accompany ripe grapefruit, lemon tart, preserved kumquat, honeysuckle, beeswax and allspice. Medium body and a long, zesty finish complete the profile.
Patatsfontein Wines 2023 Steen Chenin Blanc
South African White
Wet stone, herbs and earth accompany a fine, linear white with focus and texture. The Chenin comes from a 0.6-hectare block on slate soils at 800 metres. It was racked earlier than previous releases and spent ten months on fine lees in used 400- and 500-litre barrels. The finished wine carries 12.5 percent alcohol and is sealed under cork.
Martin’s Lane 2023 Simes Vineyard Riesling
Canadian White
Apricot fruit sits with lemon and lime acidity in a light-bodied, off-dry Riesling. The finish is crystalline. Fruit comes from a cool, steep, north-facing East Kelowna vineyard on granite-based soils. After hand sorting, the juice receives twenty-four to forty-eight hours of cold maceration, then ferments in stainless steel and ceramic vessels before at least six months on lees.
Cyprien Arlaud 2022 Scritch Bourgogne Chardonnay
French White
A pale yellow colour with silver reflections accompanies white flowers, fresh citrus and a mineral note. The dry white is lively and tense, with freshness and a saline, persistent finish. Chardonnay is the sole variety, and the finished wine carries thirteen percent alcohol. The certified-organic cuvée belongs to a white-wine range vinified in Morey-Saint-Denis from carefully sourced Burgundy fruit.
Martin’s Lane 2022 Naramata Ranch Vineyard Riesling
Canadian White
Floral notes, sea salt, stone, mineral and lemon-lime detail accompany an opulent Riesling with freshness and texture. The own-rooted vines grow over red granite and granite bedrock on the Naramata Bench. After hand sorting, some berries remain whole for pressing without sulphur. Spontaneous fermentation and ageing take place in German oak casks. The finished wine carries 12.4 percent alcohol.
Stargazer 2024 Tasmania Riesling
Australian White
Orange peel, musk and ginger accompany mandarin pith, grapefruit peel, quince and red apple skin. The Riesling has texture and focused acidity. Fruit comes from vines on their own roots in loam over limestone. Hand-harvested grapes receive brief skin contact before wild fermentation in stainless steel, followed by close to two months on lees with weekly stirring.