1 | Wine | Sauvignon Blanc, France, 86 or higher

"Tasted from tank, into which it had been assembled just two weeks beforehand, the Morin 2011 Sancerre Vieilles Vignes – which will as usual be a cuvee solely for the U.S. market, and bottled unfiltered – brims with bright lime and grapefruit; apple and honeydew melon, offering a lovely balance between lees-enrichment and refreshing vivacity. There is a chalky sense of mineral impingement to the vibrantly zesty, invigorating, yet persistently succulent finish of this buoyant (incidentally, 12.7% alcohol) Sancerre that should drink well for the next 3-4 years if not beyond."

"The combination of brine and oyster shell signaled already in the nose of Blanchet’s 2011 Pouilly-Fume Vieilles Vignes suffuses the apple, grapefruit, and lime that render the palate satisfyingly juicy. I miss quite the clarity, focus, energy, or extension found in the best examples of this cuvee, but there is still plenty of refreshment, and mouthwatering hints of salinity as well as stony notes manage to make their way into the finish."

"A stunning Pouilly Fume, this 2010 offers up notes of honeyed melons, white peaches, crushed rocks and smoked herbs. Medium-bodied with a fresh personality as well as outstanding texture and concentration balanced by penetrating and zesty acidity, this superb white wine can be enjoyed over the next several years." -Robert Parker

"The lush, ripe pit fruit; luscious citrus; and wafting floral perfume that characterized “the rest” of the material that will become this year’s Tradition cuvee here display additional intensity, accompanied by piquant nut oils, oyster liquor, and shrimp shell reduction, making for a deep, saliva-liberating savor. For all of its richness, this delivers ample refreshment, while evincing a remarkable sense of buoyancy. Look to have a wonderful time with this beauty over the next 3-4 years."

"Delivers an almost inordinate diversity of floral, herbal, citrus, and pit-fruit elements. ...with the bitterness of fruit pits, smoky pungency of red currant and crushed stone, as well as notes of shrimp shell reduction and iodine inflecting a long, bittersweet, yet at the same time vibrant, buoyant finish. This silken textured seducer should gain with time in bottle and be worth following for ten or a dozen years." 93-94+ pts.

"Evinces the pear and mint that have always been signatures for this bottling. A lush, luscious, fruit-forward and satisfyingly lees-enriched, silken palate is also typical, but here there is more vivacity and cut than in the corresponding Pierrier cuvee, with pear skin and pip helping serve for finishing invigoration."

"offers subtly fusil, smoky, and chalky notes as well as mint and basil over a base of ripely aromatic and eventually succulent kiwi and grapefruit."

"A nice crackling core of thyme, flint and chive races along, with a mouthwatering finish full of fleur de sel. Bracing and invigorating."

"There is as usual nothing mundane about the “basic” Dagueneau cuvee, the estate’s 2009 Blanc Fume de Pouilly. This is the sole cuvee at its address to blend across two soil types – Marne chalk and silex – as well as across several far-flung parcels, some of which were hailed on this year, and the parts had not yet been assembled for this 2009 when I tasted in June, so I offer only a composite impression. Smoky red currant, lime, and nettle display an aromatic pungency that coincides with a bright, energetic, silken-textured, very pure palate impression. White peach and wafting florality are conveyed by the (in this vintage, one-third) Marne chalk portion. The suffusion of chalk here is as usual impressive without in any way blocking the mouth-watering flow of fruit, and the same can be said as far as the influence of wood is concerned. This finishes with vibratory intensity and ringing clarity, as though it had been grown in a vintage from which nobody else in the region got to make wine." 91-92+ pts.