World Chardonnay Day Tasting @ PWS David Jones May 2026

The 2022 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Le Clos du Village is ample and fleshy, bursting with aromas of peach, clear honey, buttery pastry and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and pure, it's a pretty, charming white. WILLIAM KELLEY

The walls of the Clos make this an early ripener. Vines planted in 1997 but some which are on 161/49 need to be pulled out. Lemon and lime in colour. An attractive fresh nose, with a little bit of lime blossom. The palate has a delicious energy underpinned by the minerality of this site, it is generous but well balanced. Lovely wine. JASPER MORRIS MW

Name a better sound than that of a champagne cork popping from a bottle in a bustling wine bar or merry restaurant! That's why at Bellota,  the Lilbert-Fils NV Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Extra Brut was a natural choice for us to pour by the glass. Bursting with aromas of crunchy green apple, fresh citrus and white flowers matched with a lovely zippy tension on the palate and a crisp clean finish this is the go to champagne for this Holiday Season. Perfectly suited to long sunny afternoons on Bank Street paired with Moonlight Flat Oysters and a delicious morsel or two prepared by Chef Nicky. See you soon for a glass or three...or even a bottle! TIFF & ALASTAIR

Lilbert-Fils is a small, slightly under-the-radar grower in Cramant with a loyal following, and it's easy to see why. With 50% of the blend for the first wine of the house coming from a perpetual reserve of Cramant Chardonnay started in the 1990s by Bertrand Lilbert's father, this is an entry level that is anything but simple and youthful. The style is rather floral, with apricot and jasmine notes floating over a real hit of savour from the reserve and a bone dry, mineral presence. It's singular, yet harmonious; a blanc de blancs that takes care of the simple pleasures, yet hides rather a lot under the bonnet. TOM HEWSON, decanter.com

The wine delivers a refined, youthful aromatic constellation of pear, apple, limestone minerality, bread dough, white flowers and incipient smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and still quite youthful, with a fine core of fruit, very good soil signature, brisk acids, frothy mousse and a long, nascently complex and very nicely balanced finish. This is a lovely bottle of Blanc de Blancs, which could do with a year or two of cellaring to let it emerge more fully from behind its lovely girdle of acidity. Good juice. JOHN GILMAN

Hailing from the villages of Cramant (60%), Chouilly (30%) and Oiry, and based on the incisive 2021 vintage, complemented by 50% of a perpetual blend initiated in the 1980s, Lilbert's latest NV Extra Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs was disgorged in May 2024 with a dosage of three grams per liter. Unfurling from the glass with aromas of crisp green apple, fresh citrus fruit and white flowers, it is medium-bodied and has a tensile personality, laden with bright acids and concluding with sapid finish. It will be even better in about three years and will offer a broad drinking window. As with all the wines in Lilbert's cellar, it is vinified in tank. KRISTAPS KARKLINS

From eight different sites in the Eola Amity Hills, winemaker Daniel Estrin learned how to make Chardonnay from Litorrai's Ted Lemon. Paul Gerrie makes up the bulk of this wine with Eileen and Louise. 100% barrel fermented Estrin uses a tactile approach to the lees inclusion in this wine. At the entry-level, this wine is still over-vintaged, which builds tension in the wine. Notes of tarragon and chipped flint frame the smoky grilled lemon aromatics. Stony flint streaks introduce the palate, green mangoes, and grilled lemon peel. Delicious and a tad unbelievable as their entry-level bottling. CLIVE PURSEHOUSE, Decanter

The 2022 Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills is a total pleasure on the nose, wafting up with notions of sweet spice, chamomile and ginger-tinged yellow apples. Round and supple, this possesses a core of juicy acidity that enlivens it's tart orchard fruits as a salty sensation forms toward the close. It tapers off with tension, cleansing and fresh, leaving a mineral twang and hints of sour citrus. Beautiful. ERIC GUIDO, Vinous

A bright medium yellow hue, the 2022 Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills is elegant, with a juicy, decadent feel to its notes of sweet oak spice, delicate, floral perfume, wet stone, and fresh white peach. Refreshing and mouthwatering, it’s medium-bodied and crisp, with good ripeness of acidity and a clean, elegant finish. It’s going to age well over the coming 6-8 years. JEB DUNNUCK

Cristom is one of Oregon’s benchmark producers, crafting wines that express the unique character of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Their Chardonnay is a standout, combining energy, structure and finesse, with a Burgundian sensibility and a distinctly Oregon edge. Precision winemaking and thoughtful vineyard work define the house style.

The 2023 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru is a step up from the slightly underwhelming 2022 last year. Fine delineation, citrus-fresh with petrichor and a touch of peach skin. The palate is well balanced, and quite powerful though well focused. A keen line of acidity with more sapidity on the finish compared to the Vaillons. Persistent spiciness on the aftertaste. Recommended. NEAL MARTIN

OUTSTANDING - There is reasonably good typicity present on the more floral aromas of poached pear, lemon zest and shellfish-scented nose. There is again fine volume and mid-palate density to the delicious and vibrant medium-bodied flavors that terminate in a dry but not really austere finale. This beautifully balanced and surprisingly powerful effort could use better depth so at least a few years of cellaring should be beneficial. In short, this is lovely and promising. BURGHOUND

WORTH A SPECIAL SEARCH - A finer nose - less impact but with more flashes of complexity. Lovely in the mouth - a juicy complexity with really a lot of different citrus aspects - the skin too - and a modest but present salinity. His mineral finish vibrates with interest - that's a great wine - and for the longest time it's growing in the finish rather than fading. That has great potential… BILL NANSON, Burgundy Report

WORTH A SPECIAL SEARCH - Yellower citrus - airy and floral. A more incisive style - chiselled wine - properly mineral and chalky finishing - the detail here is really super - that's a great wine in the making… BILL NANSON, The Burgundy Report

The 2023 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has much more composure than the Montmains, more harmonious and poised. Light sea spray scents mixed with Crustacea come through with aeration. The palate is well balanced with fine delineation, quite linear and malic with a concentrated finish. I prefer this to the Montmains this year. NEAL MARTIN