February Premium Pack 2024 - Petit Blanc Pack

Super-ripe lemon, fresh pineapple and herb aromas pour from the glass of this medium-bodied, concentrated and sophisticated dry riesling. Completely dry, with excellent balance at the long, very clean finish. 100% estate fruit from Ribeauvillé and Bergheim. Drink or hold. 94 points, STUART PIGGOTT, James Suckling

The 2020 Léon is surprisingly tangy and bright for this warm vintage with just 13% alcohol. It's light in body and focused while 12-18 months on lees has provided a sense of roundness and texture to the mid palate as well as a touch of autolysis-derived pastry character to the apple and citrus fruit and lightly floral aromas. Vibrant, fresh and youthful. Best enjoyed in the first three to six years of its life for its energy. REBECCA GIBB, Vinous.com

The former Florilège comes with a new name this year. Predominantly from limestone soils but also silex, the 2020 Pouilly Fumé Léon offers a clear, deep, fresh and spicy, quite complex and iodine bouquet with great precision and mineral intensity. Aged in stainless steel, concrete and 20% oak barrels (228 and 500 liter), this is a rich and round, very elegant and aromatic Pouilly-Fumé with good mineral and fruity freshness and a long, intense and tensioned finish that reveals fine tannins and crisp grip. This is a substantial wine with excellent aging potential. STEPHAN RHEINHARDT, Wine Advocate

The domain of Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique Vacheron, certified biodynamic since 2005 and farming 34 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and 11 hectares of Pinot Noir in the Sancerre AOP, is producing world class white and also red wines predominantly yet not exclusively on silex soils. STEPHAN REINHARDT, The Wine Advocate

The 2022 Le Haut-Lieu Sec is a lithe, reductive style with floral character and talcum powder. Full of phenolic, lip-smacking texture woven through its core, lending a sense of satisfying grunt to this dry yet balanced style. Clarity, precision and harmony are keywords in this wine's execution. A little more fleeting on the finish than ideal. (5.5g/L) REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous

Domaine Huet reigns supreme in Vouvray. They make some of the world's most pure dry wines and piquant sweet styles from the racy and multifaceted Chenin Blanc. But you'll need patience, these powerhouses need around a decade to start revealing their inherent complexities.

Le Haut Lieu is the original vineyard,  purchased by founder Gaston Huet in 1928. It's based on heavy clay and chalk in the topsoil means these wines tend to be the most approachable in youth, though they age beautifully.

 

"Yves Cuilleron is a superstar of the Northern Rhône" THE WINE DOCTOR
"Yves Cuilleron has become one of the bright shining stars of the northern Rhone" ROBERT PARKER

There is no doubt to the pedigree of the wines coming from Yves Cuilleron. He makes an incredibly diverse range of wines both red and white but it's the latter that he is most famous for and his range of northern Rhone blanc impress for both their depth and breadth of selection.
Lovely orchard fruits with a squeeze of fresh citrus and some gentle white florals. Its at once racy and lush with some tightly coiled acidity keeping the lush fruits in check and providing some lovely bounce to the palate. Wonderful purity and light mineral streak sets it apart. A great example of the style and worth seeking out.

An exuberantly fresh and bright nose speaks mostly of white pepper, quinine and plenty of citrus influences, especially Meyer lemon. I very much like the texture to the succulent and fleshy medium weight flavors that terminate in a moderately and sneaky long finale that would benefit from developing further depth. Note that this could be enjoyed young. BURGHOUND