TOURAINE 2020 - 90 POINTS
Wine Enthusiast, February/March Issue 2024
CHABLIS 2022 - 91 POINTS
“Very appealing, with lots of drive and focus. Fine combination of ripe fruit with zesty acidity and a mineral edge to finish. Marine Descombes and Kevin Jandard purchased the estate in 2017 with 21 parcels totaling 31ha. All very nicely done. Drinking well now but will also keep.”
– Andy Howard MW, Decanter
PETIT CHABLIS 2022 - 90 POINTS
“Crisp, firm and very classic in character. Well put together with concentration as well as fruit ripeness and crisp, citrus acidity. Mineral edge to finish. Domaine Passy le Clou is located west of Chablis in Beine.”
– Andy Howard MW, Decanter, “Petite Chablis 2022: Top-scoring wines”
JULIÉNAS 2019 - 91 POINTS, EDITOR'S CHOICE
“Deep ruby in color, this wine has a perfumed nose of raspberry, black tea and red currant with a hint of blueberry. Slightly grippy tannin affords added texture with some savory notes on the back palate. This Juliénas tends towards ripe summer fruit tempered by forest floor. Mary Taylor Wine. Editors’ Choice.”
– Reggie Solomon, Wine Enthusiast, The Enthusiast 100: Best Wines of 2023. wineenthusiast.com
BEAUJOLAIS VILLAGES 2021 - 90 POINTS
– James Suckling, March 6, 2023. jamessuckling.com
DOURO - 91 POINTS
“This rounded wine is softly textured, with great black fruits set beside the juicy acidity and ripe berry flavors. The balance is impeccable, with a fresh edge set against generous dark fruits. Drink now.”
– Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, December 1, 2022. winemag.com
DOURO BRANCO - 90 POINTS
DÃO BRANCO - 91 POINTS
BEAUJOLAIS-VILLAGES - 91+ POINTS
“Marine Descombe’s 2018 Beaujolais-Villages is nicely svelte for the vintage, coming in at an even thirteen percent octane. The wine is made from parcels in the commune of Brouilly, with the vines averaging fifty-five years of age, but with some having been planted all the way back during World War I. Forty percent of the bunches are destemmed and the wine is fermented Burgundy style, followed by elevage in cement vats for six months. The 2018 offers up a beautifully pure and complex bouquet of sweet dark berries, cassis, a bit of smoked meats, a lovely base of granitic soil tones, cumin and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a lovely core of black fruit, excellent soil signature and grip, a fair bit of ripe tannin and a long, structured and complex finish. This is quite serious Beaujolais Villages and could really do with another year or two in the cellar to soften up the backend tannin completely. I know that other than a couple of Beaujolais bottlings from people like Jean Paul Brun and the Chermette family, most folks are not inclined to age their Beaujolais-Villages, but Marine Descombe’s version is outstanding and very much worthy of tucking away in the cellar for a few years and let it really start to hit on all cylinders! It is very impressively complex and a fine, fine bottle in the making. 2022-2040+. 91+.”
– John Gilman, View From The Cellar, Jul-Aug 2021 #94
ANJOU BLANC - 92 POINTS
“The 2020 Anjou Blanc from Pascal Biotteau is a lovely young example of Chenin Blanc. The bouquet is bright and nicely high-toned in personality out of the blocks, wafting from the glass in a mix of apple, sweet quince, chalky soil tones, a touch of bee pollen and a topnote of white lilies. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with excellent transparency and cut, zesty acids and a long, complex and beautifully balanced finish. This is excellent Anjou Blanc! 2021-2035. 92.”
– John Gilman, View From The Cellar, May-Jun 2021 #93
ANJOU ROUGE - 90 POINTS
“Pascal Biotteau’s vines fall right at the split between the terroirs, as half lie on slate and the other half on a mix of clay and limestone. The blend of the two gives this Anjou Rouge a seriously complex base of soil tones. The wines is a blend of eighty percent Cabernet Franc and twenty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, which are fermented with indigenous yeasts and the wine is eventually bottled unfiltered. The 2019 version is outstanding aromatically, with the bouquet wafting from the glass in a refined blend of dark berries, black cherries, a touch of tree bark, a beautiful base of soil, cigar smoke, and just a hint of violet in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and quite youthful, with a fine core of fruit, firm, chewy tannins, lovely balance and grip and long, promising finish. This is quite closed and structured out of the blocks, but all it needs is cellaring time to soften up and start to drink with generosity. It will be a very good bottle in due course, but patience will be required. 2029-2050+. 90.”
– John Gilman, View From The Cellar, May-Jun 2021 #93
VALENÇAY - 91 POINTS
“Sophie Siadou’s Valençay is the first example of the small appellation that I have ever tasted. Valençay is located due south of Cheverny and extends to seventy-four hectares of vines for the entire appellation. Madame Siadou’s 2019 is composed from a cépages of thirty-five percent each of Gamay and Côt, as well as thirty percent Pinot Noir. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in older casks for eighteen months prior to bottling. The 2019 Valençay is nicely ripe at 13.5 percent alcohol and offers up a bright, youthful nose of bitter cherry, pomegranate, a complex base of soil tones, hints of bonfire and a dollop of fresh herb tones in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and nicely transparent in personality, with a good core, ripe tannins and a long, complex and well balanced finish. I like the spine of structure that the malbec adds here, which makes it a touch chewy out of the blocks, but augurs very well for its evolution in the cellar. Paired with the right food to buffer the tannins a touch, this is quite drinkable today but it will be even better with a year’s worth of bottle age. A very stylish middleweight. 2021-2040. 91.”
– John Gilman, View From the Cellar, May-Jun 2021 #93
