1 | Wine | Chardonnay, 95 or higher

"Bright, pale green. Subtle, delicate aromas of white peach, mint, crushed stone and chlorophyll. Less complex today than the Preuses but this is still an infant. All about white peach lifted by white pepper. Fine-grained, silky and utterly vibrant wine, delivering outstanding density and fullness without weight. Great slowly mounting finish promises much more to come."
Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar - 95 pts

"The 2010 Chablis Les Clos is all about understatement and balance. White floral notes meld into white stone fruit in this utterly gracious Chablis. Clos can at times be fleeting and elusive, and there is certainly some of that in the 2010. Still, it is impossible to miss the wine’s textural finesse and sheer overall balance. I will not be surprised if the 2010 continues to get better in bottle."

"The 2010 Puligny-Montrachet Pucelles is a totally complete wine. It brings together the expressive bouquet and minerality of Combettes with some of the expressive fruit of the Folatieres. Vivid and multi-dimensional in the glass, the Pucelles wraps around the palate with serious intensity. Citrus, white flowers and green pears linger on the highly nuanced, refined finish. Today, though, the 2010 is incredibly tight. Its pedigree is impossible to miss. Leflaive’s Pucelles is easily one of the highlights of the vintage."

"Highly nuanced nose combines apple, flower blossom, crushed stone, white truffle and menthol, with a saline seashell quality emerging with air. Then stubbornly backward in the mouth, with an appley malic element and strong CO2 giving this wine a distinctly hermetic quality. Broad and large-scaled but without any impression of weight."-Stephen Tanzer

"Very ripe yet high-pitched aromas of wet stone, hawthorn and botanical herbs. Broad, silky and sweet, with a three-dimensional quality to the superrich yet sharply delineated flavors of crushed stone, violet and lavender. Perhaps best today on the superb rising finish, where the wine's compelling vibrancy carries through. Another wine of great dimension. Lardiere used 60% new oak here, but the wood element is fully integrated and virtually invisible. Showing spectacularly well today, perhaps due in part to the fact that this wine finished its fermentation early." Reviewed by Stephen Tanzer.

"Consistently one of the top Chardonnays in California. ...Pahlmeyer’s 2009 exhibits an impressive, thick-looking, light gold color with green hues. Loads of peach, creme brulee, honeysuckle, and subtle oak are present in this full-bodied, well-endowed, pedal-to-the-metal style of Chardonnay that will appeal to those who like white Burgundy, but with additional richness." Reviewed by Robert Parker.

"Something struck me when I tasted Droin’s 2011 Chablis Les Clos. In many ways, Clos encapsulates elements of all the top neighboring sites while retaining an elusive personality that is hard, if not virtually impossible, to peg down. Constantly changing in the class, the 2011 Clos seduces the palate and intellect with endless layers of salt, crushed rocks, apricots, nectarines and ash. The finish is long, intense and utterly impeccable. This is a hugely promising 2011."