Pinot Noir

Expert Review

Winemaker Description

Tollot-Beaut’s Les Vercots 1er Cru is rustic and robust with aromas and flavors of red cherries, spice, and earth with substantial weight and ripe tannins. It is aged for 18 months in 50% new Burgundian pièce.

Red Burgundy might be the world’s most flexible food wine. The wine’s high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and minimal tannins make it very food-friendly. Red Burgundy, with its earthy and sometimes gamey character, is a classic partner to roasted game birds, grilled duck breast, and dishes that feature mushrooms, black truffles, or are rich in umami. Winemaker Description. 

Expert Review

92 Points Jasper Morris | 11 barrels for one hectare equates to about 25 hl/ha. Because Vercots has a heavy soil they put some extra fine pinot clones in this vineyard, which has paid off in the quality of the fruit. Slightly paler in colour but with some finesse. A savoury sandalwood touch to the oak this time, but the vineyard tannins are not fierce. Made with an agreeably light touch. Drink from 2025-2030.

Critics Notes

Burghound 91-93 Points | Here the wood treatment is no long subtle though neither does it dominate the pretty spice, floral and red berry aromas that display a mentholated top note. The sleek, delicious and appealingly vibrant medium-bodied flavors possess good delineation that carries over to the sappy, powerful finish that offers both very fine depth and persistence. This is a bit woody today but the oak should integrate with a few years of keeping. (Drink starting 2033)". (2021). 

Vinous 91-93 Points | The 2021 Pommard Les Chaponnières 1er Cru, matured in 40% new oak, has a complex nose, quite tertiary to the extent that it deceives you into thinking there might be some stems. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins, moderate depth, fresh and saline with a pliant, cassis and blueberry-tinged finish. Very fine. (Drink between 2025-2037)" 01/23. (2021). 

Winemaker Description

A classic Pommard with a good structure. A complex nose with hints of red fruits, spices and flowers. The mouth is well balanced and structured, with ripe and sweet tannins. 

Winemaker Description

Cathiard is a tiny domain - there never is very much wine. You enter a spick and span white stucco suburban home in the center of the small village of Vosne Romanee. There is a walled vineyard outside the front door. Go down the staircase and you are in a minuscule cuverie and barrel room.

Sebastien Cathiard has been slowly assuming control of this top estate in Vosne-Romanée from his father Sylvain. He is now fully in charge, but the wines have been so good for so long that he wisely has changed very little. They continue to farm meticulously, de-stem and rigorously sort all the fruit prior to fermentation. The only thing he has changed is the gradual reduction of new oak, seeking a bit more purity of terroir expression.

Expert Review

"An ultra-fresh and very bright nose freely offers up its array of red berries, plum and even more floral wisps. There is again a lovely textured to the beautifully delineated and stony middleweight flavors that conclude in a youthfully austere, linear and chiseled finale. This is also really quite good and worth considering."
Allen Meadows-Burghound

Vera Wang brought her eye for elegance and her instinct for celebration to the world of wine with Party — a Kosher Mevushal Prosecco Rosé made to be as effortlessly stylish as the table it graces. Sourced from the province of Vicenza in the Veneto, the heartland of Italian sparkling wine, this is a 90% Glera and 10% Pinot Noir blend harvested by hand and crafted with genuine care: grapes are gently crushed and soft-pressed before primary fermentation, followed by a slow secondary fermentation at low temperature lasting over two months, and three months of maturation on yeast lees before bottling. The result has real texture and precision for its category.

Pale salmon-pink in the glass with fine, persistent bubbles. The nose is fresh and inviting — white peach, strawberry, apple blossom, and a delicate hint of brioche from the lees aging. On the palate it is light, refreshing, and effervescent, with bright stone fruit flavors, a gentle acidity, and a clean, crisp finish. Serve well chilled as an aperitivo, with light appetizers, or simply as the toast itself. Kosher Mevushal. Suitable for Passover.

• Producer: Vera Wang Party
• Appellation: Vicenza DOC, Veneto, Italy
• Blend: 90% Glera, 10% Pinot Noir
• Style: Prosecco Rosé Spumante
• Certification: Kosher Mevushal | Suitable for Passover
• Vinification: Hand harvested, soft pressed, secondary fermentation 2+ months, 3 months lees aging
• Size: 750ml
• Tasting Notes: White peach, strawberry, apple blossom, brioche, bright acidity, crisp finish
• Food Pairings: Smoked salmon, vegetable tartlets, soft cheeses, sushi, fresh fruit

Kosher elegance in every bubble — Vera Wang Party Prosecco Rosé is made for the moments worth celebrating.

Winemaker Description

The red wine "Trio" by Berthet-Bondet consists of the three common red grapes of the Jura, Trousseau, Poulsard and Pinot Noir. This elegant red wine smells of spices and pepper, a slight wild animal note, typical of the poulsard, can also be perceived. 

A completely independent wine, somewhat comparable in structure and fullness to neighboring Burgundy, but not aromatic. A characterful red for friends of the unusual.

In 1985, Chantal and Jean Berthet-Bondet took over a domaine that had not been producing wine for 50 years, and brought it back to life. In 2017, their daughter Hélène succeeded them, helped by her husband and two children. The vineyards spread on 15 hectares, 4.5ha of Savagnin in Château-Chalon and 10.5ha of Chardonnay, Savagnin, Trousseau, Poulsard and Pinot Noir in Côtes-du-Jura appellation. A new plot of Chardonnay was planted in 2022, using for the first time massal selection and young plants from the Bérillon nurseries. The vineyard is off to a magnificient start. Château-Chalon possesses the noblest terroir in the Jura region. A composition of limestone and red and gray marl confers both power and great finesse to these wines. Winemaker Description. 

Expert Review 

Vinous 99 Points | The 2020 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru was picked on 26 and 28 August at 28.7hL/ha. As usual, I leave it for 5-10 minutes to open in the glass, predisposed not to show everything upon first pour. It reveals lovely dark berry fruit, sous-bois, clove and haunting sea spray notes (picture yourself walking along the pebble beach at Whistable and the tang of shucked oyster shell in the salty air). The palate is medium-bodied with very fine and pliant tannins. Harmonious to a tee with a perfect silver bead of acidity, long and languorous, this fans out with ineffable ease on the finish. Stunning. 500 cases produced. Tasted at Corney & Barrow’s annual in bottle tasting in London.

Winemaker Description

Chambertin is the wine of Kings. Masculine, powerful and well built. Vigorous and firm, well-structured and very dense. With great persistence in the mouth and aromas of chocolate, licorice and red berries.

Expert Reviews 

Jasper Morris 100 Points | An imperial robe as we have come to expect. The bouquet is very backward, no problem there either, all about the fruit, the new wood is irrelevant. Starts slowly then builds immaculately, still too early really to see the detail. As always it is about grace style intensity and length rather than overt muscle, all the finesse one can want. Long and lovely

Robert Parker 97 Points Wine Advocate | Rousseau's 2020 Chambertin Grand Cru is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries, orange rind, plums, exotic spices, Egyptian musk, woodsmoke and rose petals. Full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, it's deep and tightly wound, with striking intensity and energy. Still very primary, even after a year's élevage, it will require patience, but it's a magical Chambertin in the making.

Critic Notes

Neal Martin writes:  The 2021 Morey-Saint-Denis Village is quite backward on the nose, blackberry and bilberry at the moment, a distinct marine element surface with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit tinged with orange rind and brown spices. Fine structure towards the finish although here, I would just like a little more finesse to develop.  - Drinking 2024 to 2032.  - Vinous

William Kelley writes:  The 2021 Morey-Saint-Denis Village is a blend of En Sevrey and Clos Solon. Delivering aromas of smoky red berries, raw cocoa and forest floor, it's medium-bodied, supple and perfumed, with melting tannins and a charming middle-weight style.  - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Allen Meadows writes:  Here too there is enough reduction to suppress the underlying fruit. The palate impression though of the more substantial flavors is vibrant and well-detailed, particularly on the lengthier and better-balanced finale. This could use more depth but that should reasonably occur with time.  - Burghound

Expert Reviews 

Burghound 91 Points Discreet but not invisible wood influence can be found on the ripe aromas of various dark berries prominent earth and violet scents. Somewhat surprisingly in the context of the reported yields the mid-palate is not especially dense though I very much like the beguiling texture that is at once caressing yet powerful before culminating in a precise serious and equally austere if notably longer finale. This is an opulent and refined Clos des Epeneaux. (Drink starting 2030)Vinous

92 Points Vinous | The 2020 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru was a blend of two instead of four cuvées this year due to the depleted production. It has a precocious bouquet with black cherries raspberry menthol and blood orange scents that gather momentum in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins taut and fresh lightly spiced with hints of allspice and tangy quince. It displays fine composure towards the finish with impressive length. This is a superb Clos des Epeneaux though will it surpass the 2019? I?m not sure. (Drink between 2026-2050)

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020 

Burghound 96 Points | Here the equally expressive nose is quite similar to the regular cuvée except it's a bit spicier. The succulent, round and caressing but powerful and slightly bigger flavors coat the palate with dry extract before culminating in a more robust and somewhat more structured finish that delivers equally superb length. Patience strongly advised.

Vinous 94 Points | The 2020 La Grande Rue is similar to the bottle tasted at the Grands Jours; ample red cherries and crushed strawberry fruit, fine minerality, quite "air" considering the growing season. The palate is medium bodied with supple tannins, fine depth, quite strict on the finish where one find a pinch of sour cherry and brown spices. Just needs a little more sustain on the aftertaste.

Expert Review

Allan Meadows  of Burghound writes 91 Points | Bright red and dark berry fruit aromas are nuanced by notes of spice, earth and plenty of floral nuances, especially violet. The rich, concentrated and palate coating medium weight flavors possess plenty of sappy dry extract that buffers the firm tannins supporting the elegant yet powerful finish. At least some patience is strongly recommended. I would note that this example showed markedly better than one from last year, in fact so much so that I have no explanation.