Round and generous pear and fig fruit but nice cut and chalky minerals going on.

Lots of tropical fruits on the nose with some salty minerality. Punchy acidity meets generous tropical fruit salad on the palate, dosed with minerals, chalk and this element that reminds me of new tennis balls. Interesting to taste young but it seems compact at this point.

Seriously smells like brie rind when I first sniffed it, but then strawberries and toasted baguette come out. Ripe and bold but precise acidity. Yellow plums, raspberry, quince paste, mixed with vibrant minerality, baked bread and croutons. Fun stuff with more complexities coming out as the wine opens up.

I was worried I was opening this too early, but really interesting to taste it right now, even if it's in a bit of a transitional phase. So much mint on the nose! Mint on top of rosemary and white pepper, not to mention oyster shells and smashed rocks. Wonderful convergence of rich texture/oily mouthfeel with brisk, tingling acidity. Sliced apples and guava fruit is absolutely drenched in minerals, sea salt and an intense herbal cocktail of min, rosemary and fennel. It really opened up a lot as it got air and warmed up over the course of the evening. This has a long way to go but even in this stage, it's fascinating and delicious.

Wow, this is so pretty, elegant, put-together and tasty. Rich orchard fruit and crusty, salty minerals on the nose. Bright and tart with lip-smacking acidity (a young wine for sure) but also oily and layered. Lemon, apples and pears mix with honey, white tea and all sorts of complex mineral notes. Gorgeous stuff, but will be much better in the years to come.

This elegant and bright Chardonnay was a great addition to the tasting. Smells of hazelnuts, honey and flowers on top of all kinds of apples. Medium-bodied but plump, generous but elegant, juicy but clean. Tropical fruit meets green apples, topped in chopped nuts and candle wax. Long, bright, lip-smacking, delicious finish. I'd love to retaste this in three years.

A very ripe and generous Kabinett. Honey, guava, pineapple, canned peaches and shaved ginger on the nose. Sweet and plump but buttressed by the acidity. Peach and guava nectar topped in chalk and ginger. With its richness, it paired very nicely with a tart crab salad.

A really phenomenal showing from magnum - this has aged so nicely. Red currant and sour cherry aromas mix with smoke, vegetable broth and tobacco. Tart and crunchy with dusty tannins. Vibrant red fruit still going strong, laced with herbs, earth and smoke. Elegant, harmonious stuff.

Wow, six years since I've tasted this - really fun to revisit and see what's up. Still very solid but quite expressive at this point. Smells of smoke, mushroom and anise on top of the cherry fruit. Silky despite its still-grippy tannins. Juicy deep cherries but the fruit is focused and lively, accented by roasted herbs, loam, anise and pepper. No longer dense but it's still solid. More time ahead.

Wow, six years has done this wine well. Can't believe how structured it still is! Blackberry, black olive, rose petals and pepper aromas. Still sporting strong tannins but they're fined down around the edges and rounded out by moderate acidity. Love the olive tapenade, roasted red pepper and smoke flavors here. Serious Loire Cab Franc, here, and good stuff for the price.

Another really solid showing of this beautiful wine. Lots of earth, olives, flowers and pepper on the nose. So pure and silky but definitely plenty of structure. Earthy, floral, mushroom, olives, leather, smoke, all on top of cool red cherries. Actually less tannic than the Amirault, more open and expressive, but still solid with time in the cellar. Beautiful stuff.