All good things comes to those who wait. Finally the uncut apple juice concentrate is gone and left is a deeply complex and quite big fruited and a little spicy chardonnay that still manages to be fresh and balanced. Drink now.
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Apples en masse, of all colours: green, yellow, winter, bruised etc. Also quite spicy and herbal with lots of detail. Zippy acid, good concentration and energy. Very good lenght. Impressive as always from Valette.
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Seriously funky at pour with mushed rotten apples and yeast Just as I started to get worried I swirled the glass a few times and it was (almost) completely gone. I continue to sense the same sensation during the evening, not enough to note it as a negative thing but enough to make a note of it here. Otherwise the wine show a lot of characteristic marks in terms of style. Beautiful lemon notes, green apples, crunchy and slightly smoky, funk and perhaps some sense of oxidation that could resemble a Chardonnay from Jura. Almonds, honey. Really good acidity, young but more approachable than last bottle. Serious length. This is not my favourite label from Valette but that doesn't mean much, I guess. Still a very good bottle of wine that's starting to open up.
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Day one this is just overbearing in how much rotten apples that wafts through the room from the glass. Day two this has calmed down and another expression has come to the fore; grilled lemons, some nice oak and of course still quite a few apples but not as monodimensional and interestingly the super oxidized notes have taken a back seat. I really liked this on day two.
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Smells like a bowl of popcorn doused in sherry. A lot of intensity on the palate. But this seems like it was harvested a little overripe to me. I understand why people dig this though. Maybe just needs a bit more time.
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Lovely notes of lemon in various shapes, juice and sorbet. Smoky minerality and some imaginary oxidative notes. Butter and honey. Drinks really good with lemon, dried herbs, tropical fruits, rocks and Fino sherry. Orange like acidity of the highest level. Perhaps a bit tight at this point. Valette is on point, as always.
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Had a very strange experience with this wine. On day one it was flat and muted, mostly winter apples. Felt clumsy and overly oxidised. On day two it was fresh as a daisy. The apples where there but toned down, the acidity was up a couple of pinholes and it was drinking beautifully. Nex time I'll give it a proper decant. Score is for day two (on day one about 86-87 pts)
Spicy yellow apple cider on the nose; quite some body on this, which I guess is equal parts lees, ripe fruit and alcohol; some spice from the oak and a slight bite from the alcohol, but rather fresh and linear despite this.
This wine was declassified due to longer élèvage time than the appellation Pouilly-Vinzennes allows for. Strikes me as such an oddity. As I understand it this has been raised 24 months in old oak barrels and then an additional 12 months on steel tank.
I had been expecting something more akin to a lean Jura chard with a more reductive style - this feels more like a richer brew made for long time cellaring. Maybe give this 3-5 years, but for sure it may keep twice as long if properly cellared. 91 points
Edit: two days later, half the bottle left an re-corked in the fridge, the yellow apples have become less spicy and the elegance has come to the fore. upping the score. 93 points but needs to be cellared a couple of years.
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2/25/2023 - karl.1480 Likes this wine: 93 Points
I think the guys before me said it all. A sensational Chardonnay that seems to be at an early peak now. Impressive as always from Valette.
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6/25/2022 - Omar Khayyam Likes this wine: 92 Points
All good things comes to those who wait. Finally the uncut apple juice concentrate is gone and left is a deeply complex and quite big fruited and a little spicy chardonnay that still manages to be fresh and balanced. Drink now.
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5/25/2022 - Puteljen! Likes this wine: 93 Points
Apples en masse, of all colours: green, yellow, winter, bruised etc. Also quite spicy and herbal with lots of detail. Zippy acid, good concentration and energy. Very good lenght. Impressive as always from Valette.
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10/1/2021 - JohanPe wrote: 91 Points
Seriously funky at pour with mushed rotten apples and yeast Just as I started to get worried I swirled the glass a few times and it was (almost) completely gone. I continue to sense the same sensation during the evening, not enough to note it as a negative thing but enough to make a note of it here.
Otherwise the wine show a lot of characteristic marks in terms of style. Beautiful lemon notes, green apples, crunchy and slightly smoky, funk and perhaps some sense of oxidation that could resemble a Chardonnay from Jura. Almonds, honey.
Really good acidity, young but more approachable than last bottle. Serious length. This is not my favourite label from Valette but that doesn't mean much, I guess. Still a very good bottle of wine that's starting to open up.
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7/9/2021 - Omar Khayyam wrote: 90 Points
Day one this is just overbearing in how much rotten apples that wafts through the room from the glass. Day two this has calmed down and another expression has come to the fore; grilled lemons, some nice oak and of course still quite a few apples but not as monodimensional and interestingly the super oxidized notes have taken a back seat. I really liked this on day two.
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6/15/2021 - Vas19 wrote: 91 Points
Smells like a bowl of popcorn doused in sherry. A lot of intensity on the palate. But this seems like it was harvested a little overripe to me. I understand why people dig this though. Maybe just needs a bit more time.
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7/12/2020 - JohanPe wrote: 92 Points
Lovely notes of lemon in various shapes, juice and sorbet. Smoky minerality and some imaginary oxidative notes. Butter and honey. Drinks really good with lemon, dried herbs, tropical fruits, rocks and Fino sherry. Orange like acidity of the highest level. Perhaps a bit tight at this point. Valette is on point, as always.
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3/8/2019 - Puteljen! Likes this wine: 92 Points
Had a very strange experience with this wine. On day one it was flat and muted, mostly winter apples. Felt clumsy and overly oxidised. On day two it was fresh as a daisy. The apples where there but toned down, the acidity was up a couple of pinholes and it was drinking beautifully. Nex time I'll give it a proper decant. Score is for day two (on day one about 86-87 pts)
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2/9/2019 - Omar Khayyam wrote: 93 Points
Spicy yellow apple cider on the nose; quite some body on this, which I guess is equal parts lees, ripe fruit and alcohol; some spice from the oak and a slight bite from the alcohol, but rather fresh and linear despite this.
This wine was declassified due to longer élèvage time than the appellation Pouilly-Vinzennes allows for. Strikes me as such an oddity. As I understand it this has been raised 24 months in old oak barrels and then an additional 12 months on steel tank.
I had been expecting something more akin to a lean Jura chard with a more reductive style - this feels more like a richer brew made for long time cellaring. Maybe give this 3-5 years, but for sure it may keep twice as long if properly cellared. 91 points
Edit: two days later, half the bottle left an re-corked in the fridge, the yellow apples have become less spicy and the elegance has come to the fore. upping the score. 93 points but needs to be cellared a couple of years.
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2/2/2019 - aekenback wrote: 93 Points
Fantastic combination of power, richness, minerality, acidity, old wood, reduction and oxidation. Lovely bottle of wine.
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