One of the top expressions from 2012 was the imperious Dom Pérignon awarded a huge 98 points by Yohan Castaing alongside 97 points, courtesy of Antonio Galloni (Vinous) and 96+ points from William Kelley (Wine Advocate).

 

An outing which “incarnates the very essence of Dom Pérignon with such a concentrated degree of intensity”, this blend of 51% Pinot Noir and 49% Chardonnay is a great pick right now for both superb drinking in a number of years' time and more immediate appreciation given the current explosive market for Champagne.

Decanter (99)

And so from P1 methuselah to P2, which for Geoffroy ‘goes beyond Champagne’. P2, he continues, must be ‘deeper, richer, longer…better than P1' - otherwise why release it? Well, they haven't yet, although it's pencilled in for later in 2019. Here we have drive, vinosity and incredible length. The sweet and savoury balance indulges with a seductive embrace. Gustav Klimt in a glass maybe. Outstanding.

James Suckling (98)

A firm and vivid Champagne with a precise, focused palate. Full-bodied and dry. It’s very layered and bright with light pineapple, peach, praline, cooked-apple and stone aromas and flavors. It’s very subtle and focused at the end. Integrated with richness and high acidity. Good depth. Reminds me of the 1995. Very clean. Solid. Lovely to drink already, but will age nicely.

Vinous (95-97)

The 2022 Riesling Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg Felsentürmchen Grosses Gewächs is from a steep site of volcanic origin with porphyry and melaphyr. A touch of yeastiness still plays on the shy, tentative nose. The palate comes in with stony saltiness, a tingling sense of juicy lemon intensifying the salty impression even more. Great concentration aligns with lightness and energetic linearity. The bright acidity has a serene luminosity and ripe yet crystal clear smoothness that seems to stretch away into eternity, lighting the way, gliding along, dynamic, optimistic, promising and full of light. (Bone-dry)

James Suckling (97)

For anyone who has never taste one, this wine smells like the red-fleshed vineyard peach. Then, on the incredibly focused palate, you plunge into the mineral depths of a riesling Grand Canyon. You need to like acidity to appreciate this astonishing experience at this youthful stage, but the wine is still extremely young. For the moment you need to chase a laser beam! From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (97)

What a dramatic wine this is, at once ripe and austere, super-stony and super-herbal with a touch of peppermint. Compact core in spite of the sleek and very focused body. Electric freshness at the vibrant finish although the acidity is anything but dominant. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (93)

The 2021 Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Riesling trocken is clear, bright and delicate on the nose that shows spicy fruit with red cherry and floral as well as flinty and some underwood or herbal aromas. Intense and fleshy on the palate, this is an elegant, piquant and mouth-filling, juicy Riesling with lemon bitters on the crispy finish. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022.

James Suckling (94)

For a bone-dry riesling this has a stunning juiciness that is hard to resist. The spot-on balance of fruit, moderate alcohol and lively acidity makes you want to dance for joy! Wide spectrum of stone and citrus fruits. Then comes the very long and elegant finish that pulls you back for more. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (99)

What a nose! This smells like essence of peach with a delicate, floral-honey overtone. Seems to vibrate on the palate, thanks to the staggering minerality and totally vibrant acidity. Extremely complex and energetic finish that goes on and on. Very limited production. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

Vinous (96)

The 2022 Riesling Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Auslese takes a while to open up. Finally, it does with a serene sense of ripe apricot, followed by a lovely citrus spectrum, ranging from lime and lemon, the merest overtone of candied lemon to tangerine with some crushed chamomile thrown in. Again, the palate is defined by Riesling rather than botrytis, bringing a rich but toned sweetness, intense, stealing your heart with its stealthy charm. It's fluid, smooth, serene, bright and laden with citrus and grapefruit spice on the long finish. (Sweet)

James Suckling (100)

Hit me with a flower! This starts very delicately with an incredibly subtle nose of fresh and dried flowers. Then comes the enormously concentrated yet totally filigree palate, which dazzles the senses with its thousand nuances and almost endless, super-silky finish. Decades of aging potential. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (98)

This starts very quietly and gently with a wafting cloud of floral aromas, but then your gaze is pulled into the base of this Gothic cathedral window, pulling you ever further upward until you are staring at the heavens. Supernatural energy and vitality, the wet stone character cascading over your palate at the super-long finish. Doesn’t want to stop! From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (97)

Picked the same day as the GG and the Spätlese on November 8 but with finely shriveled botrytis berries, the 2021 Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese offers a clear and finely lemony bouquet with very fine botrytis tones, even though botrytis was less widely spread here than in the Felsenberg. On the palate, this is a rich and intense yet very precise and filigreed, refined and pure Auslese with an enormously saline and lively, long and energetic finish that shows piquant acidity. Superb. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022.

Vinous (95)

The 2022 Riesling Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese is a rarity. The dry year was not one to favor botrytis. "It was not an Auslese year, but we always have the ambition to harvest a little Auslese in these two vineyards, namely Brücke and Hermannshöhle," Helmut says. They manage to pick fruit with a little botrytis, selected relatively early. The nose seems more toned down than the Spätlese, yet underneath are glimmers of passion fruit, with its lovely greenish, tart notion and tropical overtones. The palate has the same tropical sweetness, vivid, aromatic, alluring and seductive. It's concentrated rather than colored by botrytis. Very pure, linear, pristine and exquisite. This is an elixir-like liquid on tiptoe, pirouetting, trailing tropical perfume and finishing in citrus. This is about brightness, not weight. (Sweet)

James Suckling (98)

What an expressive and exotic nose this remarkable Spatlese has, but that’s really the least of it. The giant energy and mineral freshness are like a whale rising from the depths and blowing water out if its spout. Then comes a cornucopia of fruit at the finish, the brilliance and finesse of which makes it really hard to describe. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (97)

A great Spatlese that has deep apricot and mandarin orange fruit with delicate mint and tarragon aromas. Staggering vitality and brilliance on the extremely focused and precise palate. Enormous wet stone character at the super-long finish. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (96)

The 2021 Chardonnay DuMOL Estate Vineyard is a powerful, phenolic, driving wine. Sage, crushed rocks, lemon peel, mint, white pepper and dried herbs infuse the Estate with tremendous complexity. High-density plantings of Mount Eden clone Chardonnay on this site yield a wine of tremendous distinctiveness and vibrancy.

Wine Advocate (98+)

The 2021 Chardonnay Isobel Charles Heintz Vineyard is the 20th bottling of a Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay at DuMOL. It was harvested September 25-27, matured in larger barrels and finished with six months in stainless steel. "There are very few better vintages of this," winemaker Andy Smith exclaims during our tasting, and I have to agree. It's bursting with scents of matchstick, chamomile, Greek yogurt and white peach, and over time, it unfurls unique spicy, herbal undertones. The palate is intensely concentrated, boasting expansive, dynamic flavors that segue from stone fruit to honey. Satiny and seamless, it has a tremendously long finish with mind-altering depth of flavor. Fans of Burgundy will love it for its flinty tones, and fans of California for its concentration and power.

The Wine Independent (99)

The 2021 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard needs quite a bit of coaxing to unlock notes of ripe yellow apples, grapefruit oil, orange peel, and juicy peaches, leading to wafts of wet slate, shaved ginger, and almond croissant. The medium-bodied palate has super-charged intensity, delivering layer upon layer of citrus, stone fruit, and mineral flavors with a silky texture and laser-precise acidity, finishing with incredible length and so many citrus and mineral sparks. This is phenomenal Chardonnay! These Hyde Vineyard vines were planted in 1986. "Hyde were the first to do custom growing and they do it so well," commented DuMOL's winemaker, Andy Smith. "The shoot growth in 2021 was very low and the yields were down from a typical 21 barrels to 17 barrels. But I believe this is the best quality is the best they've ever had from here." I agree. For number crunchers, the pH is 3.38, and ABV is 13.7%.

Vinous (96)

The 2021 White has no Chenin Blanc in this blend so reverts back to the Sauvignon/Semillon blend, the former from the Rupert family; a spontaneous ferment with a judicious 10-20% new 500-liter oak. It has a drop dead gorgeous bouquet with yellow fruit, lanolin and peach skin, quite pithy in style with just a touch of reduction. The palate is well balanced with a lively, slightly peppery entry, the Semillon expressive and dictating the ginger-tinged finish. It just grows with aeration - an outstanding white from Duncan Savage.

Wine Advocate (100)

Francis Egly and I tasted a bottle trial disgorgement of the 2008 Brut Grand Cru Millésime that saw six grams per liter dosage, and the wine surpassed even my high expectations. Wafting from the glass with scents of crisp orchard fruit, Meyer lemon, praline, warm bread and walnuts, it's full-bodied, deep and multi-dimensional, with an immensely layered, concentrated core that cloaks its racy but ripe spine of acidity, abundant but refined structuring dry extract and an incredibly long, precise and sapid finish. It represents the confluence of a great vigneron at the peak of his powers with a historic vintage, and it's unquestionably the finest 2008 Champagne that I've tasted to date. Egly and I agreed that it might be even better with only five grams per liter dosage, but we'll see what he finally decides when he disgorges the wine later this year. What is clear is that the the 2008 Brut Grand Cru Millésime will be worth any and every effort to seek out once it arrives on the market.

Wine Advocate (99)

Broad and powerful, Egly's 2012 Brut Grand Cru Millésime is a serious, vinous Champagne somewhat reminiscent of his brilliant 2002. Delivering complex aromas of pear, honeycomb, orange oil, sweet stone fruits, praline and freshly baked bread, it's full-bodied, deep and muscular, with a multidimensional core of fruit, racy acids and a long, resonant finish. Complex and compelling, readers will have a hard time choosing between the power and texture of 2012 and the quintessentially elegant, seamless 2013. Both are benchmarks for what contemporary Champagne can achieve.

Wine Advocate (100)

Francis Egly has produced another profound Champagne with the 2013 Brut Grand Cru Millésime. If the monumental 2008 stands out for its power, structure and intensity, the 2013 is distinguished by its harmony, finesse and completeness; both vintages are very great wines but thus quite different in style. Wafting from the glass with scents of Anjou pear, crisp yellow apple, freshly baked bread, clear honey, iodine and fresh mint, it's full-bodied, ample and pillowy, with a layered, concentrated and effortlessly balanced core of fruit, uniting precision and sensuality to compelling effect. Girdled by racy acids and animated by a delicate pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. Is this the most elegant wine Egly has produced to date? It's certainly among the most compelling that this high quality but initially underrated Champagne vintage has delivered.

James Suckling (96)

Cooked apple, lemon curd and light vanilla on the nose, together with stone, mineral and some dried flowers. Medium to full body with a creamy texture and beautiful fruit. Hints of vanilla and pie crust in the aftertaste. Always great quality for the price. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (96)

This has aromas of ripe apricots, buttercream, baked apples and pastries. Medium-to full-bodied with a creamy, round and almost oily texture. Lovely balance of ripe fruit and toasted-pastry notes with bright acidity. Delicious finish. Fantastic value, as always. Drink now or hold.

James Suckling (97)

A hint of flint and gunpowder with waxed lemon, oyster shell, mango and salted green apples. Quite a textured, saline expression of chardonnay with tangy flavors and a mineral drive. Full-bodied and reductive with phenolic support. Savory, saline and mouthwatering finish. Love the austerity here. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (97)

Real depth for a chardonnay, with lots of limey, smoky green fruit, chalky, flinty citrus, stones and oyster shells. Pure, full-bodied and mouthwatering, with laser beams of acidity cutting through the taut, textured palate. Bright, long and pure with a delicious, austere edge. Drink or hold.

An exquisite embodiment of the world-renowned Chardonnay grape, the Esprit Leflaive Pouilly-Fuisse 2018 encapsulates the very essence of Burgundy, France. This wine is a testament to the masterful blending techniques of Olivier Leflaive, known for creating wines that skillfully dance between vivacity and latitude. Handpicked grapes are vinified and matured for 12 months on lees in stainless steel vats, conferring this wine with its impeccable purity and richness.

The Esprit Leflaive Pouilly-Fuisse 2018 delights connoisseurs with notes of ripe peach, acacia blossom, and subtle minerality on the nose. The palate is elegantly textured, unveiling delicate hints of white fruits and toasted almond before revealing a refined, lingering finish. This extraordinary wine, with an optimal ageing potential of 5 to 10 years, is an undeniable reflection of the exceptional terroir where its grapes are meticulously grown. Savouring Esprit Leflaive Pouilly-Fuisse 2018 is indeed an unforgettable journey into the heart of Burgundy.