White Wine

The Ramonet estate is one of the legendary estates of the Côte de Beaune. The grandfather, Pierre Ramonet, a talented winemaker, already sold his wines across the Atlantic before World War II and in French starred restaurants. Noël and Jean-Claude Ramonet continued his work, while putting the terroirs in the right direction thanks to better control of yields.

The two brothers come and separated, by mutual agreement. Noël just wants to work his vines and deliver his grapes to his brother Jean-Claude who will be in charge of winemaking and marketing. For wine lovers from this world famous estate, there will be no change. Just two labels, that of the Ramonet estate and that of the Jean-Claude Ramonet wine merchant. Jean-Claude will also take care of part of the vineyards of the Girardin estate, bought by the Bordeaux resident Philippe Capdouze, founder of Ficofi (an ultra-select club for the sale of great wines). Its whites remain a benchmark in Burgundy.

Golden color with greenish hues. This wine shows an elegant and complex nose, with floral notes of wisteria, lemon balm and acacia flowers, fruity nuances of peach, swiftly leading the way for a slight saline note.

Intense and crunchy, with a vibrant structure that resonates with citrus fruits and mineral elements. It shows itself little by little, with refreshing minerality on the long finish. 

Expert Review

Vinous 93 Points | The 2021 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru, of which half comprises fruit from the Chapelots climat, has a delightful oyster shell-infused bouquet that blossoms in the glass – citrus peel intermixed with orange zest. The palate is very well-balanced, with a little more weight and concentration than the Butteaux. It is taut and linear, with a lick of salinity on the finish. Excellent. 

Winemaker Description

The wine is rich in mineral and citrus flavors and reminds us of what great white Burgundy tastes like!

The high-altitude, north-facing Scopus Vineyard harnesses a blend of lush California flavor tempered with cool-climate structure hanging on firm acidity and moderate body. Stone fruit, citrus and spice come to mind on the palate, all marked by the vineyard’s classic mineral core. There’s a modest hint of toasty oak framing the ensemble, which ends long and fresh. 

Kosher for Passover

Expert Review - Prior Vintage 2022

93 points Wine & Spirits | 2022 marks the fourteenth vintage for Covenant® Chardonnay Lavan®. The wine is made from grapes grown in a small vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. Jeff began working with this vineyard -- called Scopus -- back in 2010, when he made some Chardonnay for the vineyard's owners. He liked the wine so much, that he decided to make Scopus Vineyard the core of our Lavan® program the next year.

Decanter 94 Points | This wine is fermented in cask and given a 15-month maturation without racking. The result is marvelously creamy and rich, yet there is an expressive lemony fruit, a pleasant floral note, and despite the weight, there is plenty of acidity. A fabulous starting point for the range. Enjoy now, but a few years of age will only reveal more nuance. A serious Bourgogne Blanc. Produced from parcels surrounding the domaine, including the lieu-dit Les Magny; the total surface area is 1.5ha.

Winery Notes: 

Our Chardonnay is crafted with care to ensure that no single flavor overpowers another, creating a delicate, bright glass filled with subtle sweetness and a hint of oak.

Well-balanced, with bright citrus, honey, and juicy peach notes rounded with a hint of oak to bring a light complexity.

Pairs well with shrimp, steamed mussels, creamy pasta, roasted chicken, and grilled vegetables.

Winemaker Description

Lightly touched by wood aging, this ripe wine is both crisp and rich. Its briskness brings in a mineral edge while the ripeness produces the rich apple and apricot fruits. This full wine is ready to drink. Matured on fine lees with regular stirring, this wine amazing body and smooth richness that is so important to its balance. 

This Chardonnay Vieilles Vignes (old vines) possesses the cardinal qualities of Burgundy’s best white wines. The grapes selected for this wine come from vines on the Cote d’Or that are more than 20 years old. The predominant white flower and citrus nose leads to notes of honey and dried fruit. The palate is very well balanced, skillfully blending vivacity and roundness.

Winemaker Description

Mevushal. Israel. The wine is produced under strict controlled conditions from top-quality grapes of the winery, from vineyards in the Upper Galilee and Kiryat Anavim. The final blend combines vigorous wines made in new oak casks after aging an additional six months, with wines which aged in stainless steel vessels.

This combination creates a unique complexity- typical high- quality fruit which emerges from an intense, full body which is then perfected in a bottle.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022

Australian Wine Companion 95 Points | The Penfolds chardonnay wines have been in fine form in recent years. Here it is the Bin 311, hailing from the regional triumvirate of Tasmania, Tumbarumba and the Adelaide Hills, aged in French Oak (34% new) for eight months. Pale straw with green flashes and a tight, lemony aromatic profile with notes of nectarine, lime zest, lemon curd, grilled nuts, crushed stone and minerals, plus a liminal whiff of struck flint. Elegant and pure with a fine framework, racy mineral-laden acid propulsion and a light textural phenolic pressure on the palate. It's an elegant, mineral-driven wine and a damn good one at that.

94 Points James Suckling | Flint. Kumquat, lime zest and stone fruit allusions. Cool climate Tasmania and Tumbarumba fruit. Mid-weighted and tautly furled with a core of fruit sweetness that expands across the filigreed finish. Long! I like this wine. While it is reductive in the contemporary Australian vein, it is far less so than the Penfolds chardonnay style of just a few years ago, with a relaxed glide across the finish. Creamed cashew and praline at its core, conferring generosity. Real juice, thrust and crunch to this. Drink or hold.

93 Points The Wine Advocate | The 2022 Bin 311 Chardonnay hails from three regions: Tasmania (38%), Tumbarumba (33%) and the Adelaide Hills (29%). It matured in French oak for eight months (34% new). Crushed salted nuts, white peach and layers of nectarine and green apple populate the palate. It's svelte, polished and classy to a tee. It has the Penfolds phenolic stamp of seamlessness without being glossy or overdone. Lovely wine. Pleasure here! It was a lovely season in all three regions.

Winemaker Description 

Pale straw with lime green hues. An exhilarating Chardonnay. The benefit of multi-regional blending is evident, with each distinct region bringing nuance to the final blend. Struck flint and steely minerality are a nod to the Tasmanian inclusion. Subtle white stone fruit and cured lemon suggestive of the Adelaide Hills. While lime, lemon and wet stone minerality a reflection of the high-altitude vines of Tumbarumba. A hint of Tahitian lime zest ‘oil’ adds an exotic note, tempered by a lemon curd/ pastry sweetness. An exemplar of the modern Penfolds Chardonnay style. An elegant wine, with lovely cool climate fruit providing ample palate weight. Honeydew melon, white peach, cashew and nougat drive the flavor profile. There is a trademark minerality running through a seam of soft acidity. The phenolics are grippy and textured, melding seamlessly with fine grained French oak. This is a wine punching well above its weight division. Drinking beautifully now but will hold for a decade or more for those who like a more developed expression of the varietal.

There is a very nice balance between freshness and liveliness combined with richness and precision. Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description

Mevushal. The grapes were carefully selected from vineyards in Clarksburg, California. This full bodied and complex Chardonnay exhibits all of the elegant characteristics of the varietal grown in this renowned appellation with top notes of citrus and tropical fruit. 

Our ‘108’ Chardonnay comes from the own rooted and old vines at Wirtz Vineyard. Chardonnay styles are as divisive as politics these days.  The Oregon wine machine is back promoting the advantages of Oregon Chardonnay once again.

This is good news.  After many starts and stops with this grape over the years, Oregon Chardonnay is positioned to be a grape that gains national respect. 

(2019) Decanter 90 Points | Initially a bit restrained on the nose, on the palate it opens to show no lack of substance and structure, with subtle, waxy aromas of ripe apple touched with honey. From just over 0.25ha in the lieu-dit Les Boutières, this is fermented on ambient yeasts in older oak barrels (large and small), before ageing two winters in cask on the lees.

Boasts fresh, fragrant, apple, melon and pear aromas with a hint of oak spice. Rich and mouthfilling on the palate, its smooth, beautifully balanced, yellow apple, nectarine and honeydew melon flavors segue into a long, succulent finish enhanced by refreshing mineral and spicy oak tones. Released soon after bottling, our Napa Valley Chardonnay hits its stride after 6-8 months in the bottle and rewards 5-7 years of aging.

This is a versatile pairing wine—enjoy it with grilled seafood and nearly any selection of cheeses. Winemaker Description. 

Vinous 93 Points | The 2017 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, which is as usual, an exchange with Jean-Michel Chartron, has a crisp and precise bouquet with touches of yellow flower and crushed stone complementing the citrus fruit. The palate is very well balanced with beautifully integrated oak (one-year old rather than new), leading to a precise, almost Meursault-like finish. Superb. 

It has a very detailed, slightly flinty, perhaps reserved bouquet that opens reluctantly in the glass. The palate is taut on the entry, hints of white chocolate infusing the citrus fruit, nicely balanced with a harmonious and elegant finish. Winemaker Description.

Burghound 94 points | There is just enough wood and menthol elements present to be worth noting surrounding the citrusy apple, pear and exotic tea-scented nose. The bigger, richer and more sophisticated medium weight plus flavors possess evident power as well as a lovely sappiness that coats the palate on the delicious, highly complex and strikingly long finale. Like the Bâtard, this beauty is built for the long haul though it could actually be approachable after only 7 to 8 years. In brief, this is extremely promising. 

Wine Advocate 91 Points | Aromas of citrus zest, peach and pear, mingled with hints of white flowers, hazelnuts and fresh bread, preface the 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs Gain, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and nicely concentrated wine with a bright spine of acidity and a mouthwateringly chalky finish. This looks to be Colin's best Champs Gain since 2017.

Barrel Sample: (91-93)+Burghound 92 Points | Pretty and airy aromas include those of citrus blossom, freshly sliced apple and a whiff of rosemary oil. The rich and very generously proportioned flavors still manage to have very good underlying tension on the agreeably dry, focused and solidly complex finale. This is quite good, in fact unusually so compared to what is typical for the vineyard.Vinous 93 points The 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Champs Gain 1er Cru has a touch more mineralité on the nose compared to the Les Chenevottes, touches of gypsum and oyster shell intermingling with light white linen scents. The palate is very well balanced and beautifully poised, with entrancing white peach and nectarine notes toward the irresistible finish. Yes, yes, yes!