db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay assesses the French wines being released during of the 2025 spring hors Bordeaux campaign, both red and white, and Champagne.
French releases (red)
|
Vintage |
Region |
Rating |
| Domaine Raquillet Mercurey Vieilles Vignes |
2022 |
Burgundy |
90 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Pinot Fin |
2023 |
Burgundy |
89 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Côteaux Bourguignons |
2023 |
Burgundy |
88 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Hautes-Côtes de Nuits |
2023 |
Burgundy |
91 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Marsannay |
2023 |
Burgundy |
89 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin |
2023 |
Burgundy |
91+ |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes |
2023 |
Burgundy |
92 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Le Poissenot |
2023 |
Burgundy |
93+ |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes |
2023 |
Burgundy |
93 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru |
2023 |
Burgundy |
94+ |
| Hermitage La Chapelle (Domaine La Chapelle) |
2022 |
Rhone |
97 |
Domaine Raquillet Mercurey Vieilles Vignes 2022 (Mercurey; 100% Pinot Noir; 13.5% alcohol; a Joanne exclusivity and so not really on
la place per se). A surprise when it’s poured. This could be Cabernet Sauvignon from its appearance in the glass, so deep and dark and highly coloured is it. Distinctly oaky too. Fruits of the forest and vanilla. Crushed raspberries. Warm spice box notes. This is dense, concentrated and distinctly smoky with quite chewy, grippy tannins. Impressively lithe on the palate where the viscosity and density are very evident. But, given this, it’s more lithe than you might imagine and the oak is much less apparent on the palate. It certainly needs time and I find the tannins a touch dry on the finish. This feels a little forced for me but I’d be keen to re-taste this.
90.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Pinot Fin 2023 (Bourgogne; 100% Pinot Fin sourced from Geantet-Pansiot’s Gevrey and Brochon vineyards on predominantly limestone soils, with part of the vineyard located at the mouth of the Combe de Lavaux; aged in oak barrels, around 20% of which are new; 13.2% alcohol). Characterised, again, by that signature Geantet-Pansiot freshness and directness. Wild strawberries freshly harvested and plucked from their stalks. A little raspberry too and a lifted more tactile, textural raspberry leaf and stem note. A wine of precision if not of great complexity. Refreshing and charming, authentic and unpretentious.
89.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Côteaux Bourguignons 2023 (Bourgogne; 100% Gamay; there’s just 1 hectare of this, sourced from the ‘Marcilly’, ‘La Pension’, and ‘Au Prunier’ plots, on the clay-limestone soils of Gevrey-Chambertin; aged in oak barrels, around 20% of which are new; 12.5% alcohol). Magenta/pink at the rim with impressive blue/purple highlights at the core. Wild and herbal but with a very pure, penetrating loganberry and mulberry fruit. Sage and a very subtle hint of nutmeg. A hint of oak smoke. Quite slender at first in the mouth but then it broadens in frame just a little from below. Silkily-textured and very pure if somewhat lacking in complexity. Simple, fresh and focussed.
88.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Hautes-Côtes de Nuits 2023 (Hautes-Côtes de Nuits; 100% Pinot Noir largely sourced from parcels of Chevannes and Messanges in the cool heights of the Combe de Chaux; aged in oak barrels, around 30% of which are new; 13% alcohol). Crisp. Fresh. Bright. Quite creamy in texture but with a searing fruit intensity that is impressive even if it’s also a little monolithic. Red berry fruits – raspberry and redcurrant. Lithe and sinuous with lots of energy and vitality. There’s a nice balance to this. Quaffable and a great introduction to the range.
91.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Marsannay 2023 (Marsannay; 100% Pinot Noir; from Geantet-Pansiot’s 0.92 hectares, the ‘Les Nagelottes’, ‘Petits Puits’, and ‘Grand Poirier’ parcels on clay-limestone soils with the presence of compacted oyster shell marl; 13.5% alcohol). Bright and crisp with loganberries and redcurrant intermingling with a little red cherry and lemon thyme. Fresh and quite racy with a pronounced vertical acidity bringing lift and tension and seeming to project the juicy red berry fruit upwards to the top of the palate. Not especially complex but very pure and focussed and with decent length on the finish.
89.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin 2023 (Gevrey-Chambertin; 100% Pinot Noir; from just 1.35 hectares and sourced from the estate’s young vines on clay-limestone soils at the northern limits of the
appellation; aged in oak barrels, around 30% of which are new; 13.5% alcohol). You might expect there to be rather more of this than the Vieilles Vignes. But you’d be wrong. There’s not much of either, but even less of this. The same signature freshness and precision as there is in all of these wines, here with a rather more ample frame. The fruit has more of a chance to relax in a way and that gives this a certain opulence and gravitas that is not to be found in the more tense and taut Marsannay or the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. Crushed red berry fruits – raspberry, loganberry and a little mulberry too. With aeration a hint of blackberry and blackcurrant too. Fresh and fruit-forward with beady tannings bristling a little on the finish.
91+.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2023 (Gevrey-Chambertin; 100% Pinot Noir, from 2.32 hectares in total and blended from 17 separate parcels all over 50 years old on a combination of clay-limestone and stony soils; aged in oak barrels, around 30% of which are new; 13% alcohol). Intriguing. There’s almost a slightly lactic element to this alongside the darker berry fruits – loganberries and mulberries. Engaging and enticing on the palate, with lots of interest, lots of freshness and a very dynamic and energetic mid-palate – conjuring a cartoon image of a bunch of wild animals in a bag with limbs jutting out everywhere. Very sapid and juicy and with a touch of Gevrey seriousness and austerity right at the end reminding you where you are. Excellent.
92.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Le Poissenot 2023 (Gevrey-Chambertin; 100% Pinot Noir from a prime site at 350 metres in altitude, just above Lavaux Saint-Jacques, on well-drained limestone soils of the Combe de Lavaux; aged for around 16 months in oak barrels, around half of which are new; 14% alcohol). Gorgeously juicy. Richer and denser but more aerial and aromatically vertical in its presentation too. It is also more intensely floral. Rose petals joins the assorted red berry fruits plucked from their husks. A little scratched leather too. Some wild herbs. Sapid and intense with a lovely attack, the acidity more than the tannins reining this in and pulling it back to the spine but in a lovely non-linear way, producing a kind of spiralling of the juicy fruits in the mouth. I love the sense of energy here!
93+.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes 2023 (Chambolle-Musigny; 100% Pinot Noir; there are just 0.36 hectares of this from three parcels all of over 50 years in age, ‘Les Athets’, ‘Les Pas de Chats’ and ‘Les Fouchères’ on stony soils rich in iron oxide at the foot of the slope; aged in oak barrels, around 30% of which are new; 13.5% alcohol). A lovely wine with a most radiant aromatic profile – plump red cherries, redcurrants and confit raspberry intermingling with wilder heather and herbal notes and a little hint of freshly scratched new leather. Naturally sweet on the attack with a beautifully sapid and luminous quality that comes from the fine granularity of the tannins. More subtle and more mineral in character than the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes, but quite spicy too and with plenty of freshly cracked red peppercorn. Balanced and pure.
93.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2023 (Charmes-Chambertin; 100% Pinot Noir; Geanter-Pansiot’s 0.45 hectares of Charmes-Chambertin are located near Griotte-Chambertin at the northern-most edge of the prestigious ‘Charmes’ climat on a limestone soil rich in marl; aged in oak barrels, around 50% of which are new; 14.5% alcohol). Unremarkably, the very best of the Geantet-Pansiot offerings on
la place this year, this is elegant, refined, fascinatingly complex above all aromatically, but also delicate and voluptuous at the same time. The tannins are beautifully-grained as is the form in the mouth that they contribute to crafting. Vibrantly red-berry fruited with a gracious poise and engaging evolution over the palate this is very long and gently tapering on the finish. There’s a hint of violet and soft leather. The beady tannins serve to accentuate the very tactile sense of this wine in the mouth, bringing a degree of detail and delineation that I don’t find in the other
cuvées.
94+.
Hermitage La Chapelle (Domaine La Chapelle) 2022 (Hermitage; 100% Syrah; 14% alcohol; tasted at La Lagune with Caroline and Delphine Frey around a month before bottling; then at the Joanne tasting in July 2024). This is a re-release in a mixed 2-bottle (wooden) case with Domaine La Chapelle’s Chevalier de Sterimberg 2022. A little closed at first, but it opens nicely with gentle aeration. Walnut and walnut oil. Dark berry fruits. Sloe and plums, maybe a little damson and black cherry with a little coaxing. Peony, hyacinth, mimosa. Graphite. Earthy, with a little leafy, humous/
sous bois note. Sage too. Plump. This has a lovely shape, texture and form in the mouth, pushing at the cheeks just a little. Despite the sustained intensity of the record heat of the vintage, the exceptional terroir has retained an essential freshness. As Caroline Frey explains, everything on granitic soils coped so well despite this being the hottest vintage ever. A lovely trace of liquorice on the finish where one finds also chewy grape skins.
97.
French releases (white)
|
Vintage |
Region |
Rating |
| Domaine Raquillet La Brigadière Mercurey |
2023 |
Burgundy |
91 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Aligoté |
2023 |
Burgundy |
87 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Blanc |
2023 |
Burgundy |
89 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Marsannay Blanc |
2023 |
Burgundy |
91 |
| Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Hautes-Côtes de Nuits |
2023 |
Burgundy |
88 |
| Quentin Jeannot Vibrato Hautes-Côtes de Beaune |
2023 |
Burgundy |
91 |
| Quentin Jeannot Les 8 Ouvrees Maranges |
2023 |
Burgundy |
92 |
| Quentin Jeannot Clos de Hates Santenay |
2023 |
Burgundy |
93 |
| Quentin Jeannot Les Narvaux Meursault |
2023 |
Burgundy |
94 |
| Hermitage La Chapelle Chevalier de Sterimberg |
2022 |
Rhone |
96+ |
Domaine Raquillet La Brigadière Mercurey 2023 (Mercurey; 100% Chardonnay; 13.5% alcohol; like the red an exclusivity of Joanne). Oaky. But lithe and sinuous despite the almost cloying viscosity. Fresh with chiselling lime and lime confit notes. Fresh melon too. Indeed, this gets fresher and fresher as we glide towards the long finish. But there’s just a little dryness again from the oak right at the end.
91.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Aligoté 2023 (Bourgogne Aligoté; 100% Aligoté; just 1.45 hectares sourced signifcantly from Geantet-Pansiot’s parcels ‘Au Prunier’ and ‘Chareux’ in Gevrey-Chambertin and ‘Les Cognées’ in Morey-Saint-Denis; aged in oak barrels, around 30% of them new; 12% alcohol). Almost a little like a Petit Chablis at first with a lovely pithy grapefruit and pulpy gooseberry freshness to it and a pleasing gentle spiciness from the oak. Peach and necatine with more aeration. Slender and sleak, bright and crisp, but simple and short on the finish. Certainly well-made and excellent for what it is.
87.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Blanc 2023 (Bourgogne; 100% Chardonnay; just 0.3 hectares sourced from the ‘Paquier des Chênes’ and ‘Pince Vin’ parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin as well as ‘En Lavaux’ in Marsannay on limestone soils; aged in oak barrels, around 30% of them new; 13% alcohol). This is not your average Bourgogne Blanc and the production is miniscule. Richer and fuller, of course, than the Aligoté but still very structured and chiselled by the limestone, this is actually a little strict and austere but vivid in its freshness. Simple, certainly, but with more terroir signature than the other whites and a with pleasing juiciness to the sapid finish.
89.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Marsannay Blanc 2023 (Marsannay; 100% Chardonnay; just 0.23 hectares sourced from the ‘Les Petits Puits’ and ‘Le Village’
climats on fresh clay-limestone soils; aged in oak barrels, around 60% of them new; 13.5% alcohol). For me, probably the best of the Geantet-Pansiot whites (or, at least, those I have tasted – as the range is quite extensive). This is both richer and denser, on the one hand, but also more impressively chiselled and sculpted, on the other, with a very marked limestone identity. It also has more sustenance with a very well defined spinal column that renders this very linear on the long finish. The imperceptibility of the oak is also impressive given that 60 per cent of this is aged in new wood.
91.
Domaine Geantet-Pansiot Bourgogne Haut-Côtes de Nuits blanc 2023 (Bourgogne Haut-Côtes de Nuits; 100% Chardonnay; from 1.54 hectares in Messanges and Chevannes above Nuits-St-Georges on fresh clay-limestone soils; aged in oak barrels, around 50% of them new; 13% alcohol). Creamier texturally than the other whites here. A little closed aromatically. This is quite ample on the attack with crisp apple, white pear and maybe a hint of peach. Blanched almonds. A hint of wood smoke. Simple, but pure and quite precise with a gently tapering finish.
88.
Quentin Jeannot Vibrato Hautes-Côtes de Beaune 2023 (Hautes-Côtes de Beaune; 100% Chardonnay; 13% alcohol; an exclusivity of Joanne). Full, rich and quite fat but charged with energising acidity rendering this succulent and juicy, especially towards the finish. Refreshing but big and punchy and almost too much for me on the attack. A wine I’d serve very cold.
91.
Quentin Jeannot Les 8 Ouvrées Maranges 2023 (Maranges; 100% Chardonnay; 13% alcohol; an exclusivity of Joanne). More intense and more charged with acidity than the Vibrato
cuvée, making this both more dynamic in the mouth and more intriguing aromatically. Lime. Confit lemon. Lemon meringue pie. Fresh and finely tapering on the finish. Sapid too.
92.
Quentin Jeannot Clos de Hâtes Santenay 2023 (Santanay; 100% Chardonnay; 12.5% alcohol; an exclusivity of Joanne). Hats off (sorry!) – we have something more refined here. Glassy and luminous yet very dynamic and energetic in the mouth. Aromatically, this is strangely reminiscent of Sauternes. Confit melon. White spring blooms. Fresh ginger, even – but just a hint. Fennel too. Very dynamic and racy with vortices of freshness.
93.
Quentin Jeannot Les Narvaux Meursault 2023 (Meursault; 100% Chardonnay; 13% alcohol; an exclusivity of Joanne). Certainly the best of these, as it should be given the quality of the
terroir. Lime and linden, beeswax, those early spring hedgerow floral notes. This is wondrously fresh and chiselled. Pure and nicely focussed despite the considerable density. This never threatens to lose its shape. Racy and almost painfully juicy on the finish.
94.
Hermitage La Chapelle Chevalier de Sterimberg (Domaine de la Chapelle) 2022 (Hermitage; 87% Marsanne; 13% Rousanne; 14% alcohol). Subtle and restrained; delicate and pure; precise and focussed; and very youthful. This is rather closed and inexpressive for now. But everything’s in the right place. Pink and white flowers. White rose petals. Fennel. Intensely fresh but always subtle on the palate with intriguing slightly exotic notes – jasmine, fresh ginger, white pepper but also a hint of guava and star fruit, even a touch of Chinese 5 spice. Long and shimmering on the finish, though less expressive at this stage than the exceptional 2021.
96+.
Champagne
| Champagne releases |
Vintage |
Region |
Rating |
| Domaine Alexandre Bonnet La Forêt |
2020 |
Champagne |
95 |
| Champagne Boizel Joyau Rosé Extra-Brut |
2012 |
Champagne |
94 |
| Champagne Lanson Cuvée Noble (magnum) |
1989 |
Champagne |
97 |
|
Champagne Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé
Extra-Brut Juste Rosé |
2014 |
Champagne |
96 |
Domaine Alexandre Bonnet La Forêt Brut Nature 2020 (Champagne; 100% Pinot Noir from 4 hectares in the Côte de Bar;
zéro dosage; pH 3.04; 13.4% alcohol; just 1312 bottles, 50 magnums and 20 jereboams). A new
cuvée exclusively for
la place and a fascinating addition to
la place’s line-up of top Champagnes. Incredibly vinous and a real
vin de terroir, this comes from a tiny plot in the steep upper reaches (around 250 metres) of the prestigious Les Riceys in the Côte de Bar on the extreme southern limit of the Champagne region. It is intensely structured by the Kimmeridgian limestone
terroir that gives this wine its identity. This is very fine indeed. Yeast. Brioche. Wild strawberries. Redcurrant. Hay. Angelique. Confit fruits. Frangipane. Almond brittle. Nougat. In the mouth, this is hyper-chiselled – as if carved from the limestone below. Fresh and strict but in a wonderful way, bringing lots of tension and energy to the mid-palate. A really vinous champagne from a great
terroir with so much fresh berry fruit on the finish. There’s no need to defer gratification here (and little incentive to do so when one considers the likely price)!
95.
Joyau Rosé Extra-Brut 2012 (Champagne; 63% Pinot Noir; 37% Chardonnay; with a dosage of 3.5 g/l; 12% alcohol). Saline and more evolved aromatically, with secondary notes the first to reveal themselves. A hint of white truffle. Confit strawberries, iodine and sea-spray, peach-skin. Mirabelles. Frangipane. In the mouth this is quite chewy, with almost the sensation of the peach skin from the aromatics reappearing in textural form on the palate – bringing with it almost a little tannin which I love. Quite serious and chiselled on the palate, the
dosage right at the lower limit which is an excellent choice. Youthful – but rather more so on the palate. Long and tapering, pure and precise if perhaps lacking a little of the complexity of the non-rosé
cuvée.
94.
Champagne Lanson Cuvée Noble 1989 (Champagne; 100% Chardonnay sourced exclusively from Lanson’s
Grand Cru vineyards, the Chardonnay from Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Chouilly and the Pinot Noir from Verzenay; dosage extra-brut, 3 g/l; disgorged a year ago; no malolactic fermentation; available only in a very limited release of magnums). This has ever moved from the cellars of Lanson. Golden in hue, but youthfully so, with something of Tutankhamun’s burial mask about it! Truffle. Toasted brioche and melted
beurre au fleur de sel. White pear. Angelica. Walnut shell. In the mouth, this is incredibly youthful. Mirabelle and white pear, again, on the fresh, ample and vibrant attack before the chiselling limestone terroir seems to take charge, bringing acid grip that really sculpts the wine over the palate. Zesty and fresh. You’d really never guess the age, above all from the palate. Vivid and limpid and all the better, one suspects, for being in magnum.
97.
Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé Extra-Brut (Philipponnat) 2014 (Champagne; 80% Pinot Noir, of which around 15 per cent is
rosé de saignée; 20% Chardonnay; dosage March 2024; dosage of 4.5 g/l; 12.5% alcohol; 2820 bottles and a few magnums; disgorged on a single day in March 2023). This was released in the autumn on la place but there are now a few more bottles available. From a late and more generous vintage, like 2004, 1998 or 1982. Very pure and crisp but without the concentration of a sunnier vintage. Staggeringly complex. This has the accent very much on the ‘juste’ in ‘
juste rosé’ when it comes to the colour. Bergamot. Seville Orange marmalade. Blood orange. Quince. Rhubarb. Cinnamon. There’s a lovely delicacy to this, but it’s impressively compact too. It is more ample in form on the attack than other vintage champagnes tasted. Open-textured. Supple. Plush. Aerial. Lifted. Pillowy and relaxed. A fascinating wine. Easy and already accessible.
96.
