On the fourth day of Christmas…

On the fourth day of Christmas, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay looks at some fabulous and high-scoring whites (Chardonnay and Riesling) to cheer the winter gloom. 

The wines: Another mixed case, also in need of self-assembly (sorry to all those true loves out there), but this time of single-varietal whites. We have 2 bottles of top-end Australian Chardonnay, 2 bottles of top-end Chilean Chardonnay and 2 bottles of no less top-end German Riesling.

The concept: This is all about paying tribute to brilliantly talented producers. The Australian Chardonnay comes from the immensely impressive Will Berliner – two of my favourite wines from a vertical of his exceptional Cloudburst Chardonnay conducted in July in Bordeaux. The Chilean Chardonnay comes from the unbelievably gifted Francisco Baettig – here from his own estate. He is perhaps better known for his iconic reds which are at risk of becoming collectors’ items. The whites are just a good. And the German Riesling is from two of my favourite producers, Weingut Robert Weil and Battenfeld Spanier.

Yours for: Again, there’s a little bit of potential work to be done here by your (increasingly) long-suffering true love to acquire some of these wine, though they are all available from UK brokers and merchants. Some quick homework and a little bit of mental arithmetic suggests that a mixed case like this can currently be assembled for around £420 in bond. Strikingly, though, a full case of 12 bottles of Francisco Baettig’s Vino de Viñedo Los Parientes Chardonnay 2024 can be had for just £165 in bond.

Tasting notes

Cloudburst Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River; 100% Chardonnay; 13 % alcohol; pH 3.64; biodynamically farmed and from a tiny vineyard of just 1.25 hectares; 4888 bottles produced). Almond skin. Peach flesh and kernel. Molten patchouli-scented candlewax. A very tactile touch of tannin. Very grippy and wonderfully fresh with the touch of tannin and the zesty citrus notes almost massaging their way from the exterior into the heart of the wine, breaking up the surface tension and bringing vivacity and dynamism to the deep dark rich core of the wine in the process. Very impressive. Very mineral too, as if the citrus picks up and underscores the natural minerality. Ethereal and quite intellectual. A great wine. 98. Available in the UK from Justerini & Brooks by the case of 6 bottles, for £858 in bond.

Cloudburst Chardonnay 2020 (Margaret River; 100% Chardonnay; 13.5% alcohol; pH 3.49; biodynamically farmed and from a tiny vineyard of just 1.25 hectares; 3333 bottles produced). There’s a lovely balance and poise to this. Big, rich and powerful but in a disguised way. One of the more floral wine in a recent vertical of this wine – that mimosa note that crops up from time to time. A touch of jasmine and even a hint of green tea. Bergamot. That’s impressive, as this is a dense and compact wine and one might imagine that comes at the expense of the more subtle aromatics – not at all. Vivid. Complex. Incredibly long. Elegant and very harmonious. A vin de garde that probably needs time but I love it already. A wine of staggering purity and sustained intensity. 98. Available in the UK from Cru World Wine by the case of 6 bottles, for £758 in bond.

Baettig Vino de Viñedo Los Parientes Chardonnay 2024 (D.O. Traiguén, Chile; 20 per cent whole cluster; from 6.4 hectares of the 15.4 hectares of the Los Suizos Vineyard; 13% alcohol). I know this wine now, so I shouldn’t be surprised by it – but I am. It’s brilliantly, almost mischievously fresh, crisp, bright and vivid. It’s a fire-cracker of freshness and it has much the same effect as a fire-cracker in my head. But there’s incredible complexity here too when one relaxes after the initial shock and starts to take in what we have in the glass. Playdough (as I now remember from when I tasted the previous vintage almost a year ago), beeswax, candied fruits and a blend of exotic and citrus fruits. Another fabulous wine that is almost electrifying in its intensity and freshness, balancing viscosity and energy and radiating and pulsing all the way to a distant horizon. 94. Available in the UK from Fine & Rare Wines by the case of 12 bottles, for just £165 in bond.

Baettig Selección de Parcelas Los Primos Chardonnay 2021 (D.O. Traiguén, Chile; from two parcels of the Los Suizos Vineyard in Traiguén, dry-farmed; whole-cluster pressed and aged for 12 months in 400-liter barrels, a quarter of them new; 13% alcohol). Fascinating aromatically if initially a little introvert – but that actually allows some of its subtler and more unique elements to reveal themselves first. Bitter lemon, quinine, a crushed grassy chlorophyll note too. With a little aeration, it’s the citrus notes that come into focus. Quince and a fabulous dusty, earthy mineral tang. On the palate – wow! This is extraordinarily intense on the focussed and chiselled attack with a searingly fresh citrus acidity to it. Concentrated confit citrus and tarte au citron, a generous dusting of fleur de sel, even a hint of iodine. Incredibly youthful and utterly singular in its personality to the point where you might not even pick it as Chardonnay. Incredible. Such purity, such intensity and enough chiselling to carve out Mount Rushmore from scratch! 97+. Available in the UK from Fine & Rare Wines by the case of 6 bottles, for £380 in bond.

Weingut Robert Weil Monte Nostrum Riesling Trocken 2023 (Rheingau; 100% Riesling; 12.5% alcohol). This comes from the highest vineyard parcels of Weingut Robert Weil and is produced in vanishingly small quantities (alas). A brilliantly beguiling wine of utter purity and almost perfect crystallinity, the very essence of cool-climate Riesling – one can almost visualise the contours in the glass! Slightly smoky, slightly hazy, with a brilliant waft of flinty fresh gun smoke (the drawing of pistols at dawn to settle the feud!). This is wondrously fresh and vibrant, vivid and intense in its racy, zingy citrus-inflected acidity, and yet so utterly balanced and harmonious, elegant and refined. It needs to be tasted to be believed. You just have to hope there’s some left. 97. Available in the UK from Cru World Wine, for £279.50, duty and VAT paid, for a case of 6 bottles.

Battenfeld Spanier C. O. Steinlinden Liquid Earth 2020 (Rheinhessen; 100% Riesling; residual sugar of 3 g/l; 12.5% alcohol; certified organic). From an unclassified single parcel in the Zellertal Valley, between the grand cru sites of Frauenberg and Schwarzer Herrgott on craggy, stony limestone. A remarkable wine just as it was when I encountered it for the first time. Searingly and penetratingly pure, like a needle of fresh fruit plunged into the heart of one’s palate. Aromatically very expressive, with a hint of Riesling petrol, Mirabelle, quince, yellow melon and citron pressé. Creamy on the entry, with a viscous richness that it very impressive, saline and with a very pure whetstone character to its minerality … and then we have the release of the coursing, vivid and vibrant citrus elements that render this incredibly energetic and dynamic as it unfolds and unfurls over the palate. 98. Available in the UK from by Justerini & Brooks and Berry Bros. & Rudd in a 3 bottle case for £447 in bond.

 

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