2016 Arbois Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
Bold nose, with clear oak influence, but encouraging signs of bottle maturity too – dried fruit, hay, caramel. Textural and mineral, showing fine craftsmanship. Lengthy too, with a reverberant stony aftertaste. May not keep much longer – seems to be in its ideal drinking window now. (RH)
Critic scores
Average Score
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Low key and very polite. But so introvert that I'm having difficulty reading its flavour. Dimensions and balance impeccable. (JR)
The 2016 Arbois Chardonnay aged in a combination of foudre and barrique, produced in a floral and fresh style, ouillé, with no oxidation, in a more Burgundian style, clean and precise with a very tasty palate with focused flavors, where the oak is a little more noticeable. This is a blend of different terroirs of Chardonnay. They are going to start with other bottlings where they'll want to show the different soils. It was bottled in the summer of 2017.
Fermented and aged in Burgundy barrels but very little new. Delicate but assured minerally lemon aroma. Maybe a touch of orange pith, the oak very much in the background. Elegant in the extreme yet with a drive and persistence that creeps up behind you. On the palate, there is a surprising ripeness of fruit – almost a touch of pineapple as the wine warms up but more refined than that might suggest. There’s some oak spice on the nose but it is a cross between mealy and steely, odd as that may sound. Tight, mouth-watering. Outstanding. (JH)