ida

9.6

Birthday bottle; drank with mother & father at Harvey House in Madison with some walleye. Great pairing, great company, lovely bottle that tastes like Adult Yumyum Juice. — 12 days ago

Brandon Boesch

9.3

Great wine with seafood dinner. Beeswax, lemons, honey, saline, maybe some other citrus. Really lovely. — 16 days ago

Aaron Tan

9.2

Clearly a Sauvignon Blanc, which isn’t always a positive note for me, but the 12’ Pur Sang radiated such energy and clarity that made it impossible to not fall in love with. Aromas of pineapple, lemon, gooseberry, and fragrant white florals intertwined with subtle vanilla. On the palate, a delicate fruit sweetness was perfectly counterbalanced by herbal nuances and piercing, superb acidity, along with a crystalline texture and mineral backbone. Wicked wine as it is now, but it could easily spend more time on its side. — a month ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

2023 Le Mont Sec is so full of golden Chenin character despite its pearly glint.

Close your eyes and its thick pierced red apple skin, browning cores and buckwheat honey with a strong floral character.

My favorite dynamic of sweet suggestions, dry deliverable. — 4 days ago

Tor Kenward

9.2

So good with 20 plus years of bottle age. — 9 days ago

Austin Hohnke

9.1

Wine 1, with rack of lamb. As my drinking history shows, Raffault is a perennial favorite. 2017 is easy access with medium weight, wild red berry fruit, tomato leaf, and earth. Drink over the next five years. Holding ‘09, ‘14, ‘15, and ‘18 with patience. — 7 days ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

8.9

Good but not wow. Not that interesting at this point. — 12 days ago

Jeroen Koenen

9.4

Woolly, mineral, bruised apples, haystack, chalk, nutty nuances. Lovely stuff..! — 8 days ago

Ron R

9.4

Superb with Foie gras. No rush to consume this at all. — 8 days ago

with Anne-marie

Vanessa

9.2

“Nothing added, nothing removed” is a phrase some use to describe the philosophy of low-intervention (or “natural”) winemaking. 🌱

The winemaker is like a vessel, carrying Mother Nature’s gifts from the land (and vintage) to your glass, where each sip can transport you to a particular place and time.

Nicolas Joly is an illustrious vigneron revered for his deep commitment to biodynamics and minimal intervention winemaking. 👏 He leads his family’s estate – Famille Joly – located in the prestigious appellation of Savennières in the Anjou-Saumur region of Loire Valley and specializes in top quality, cerebral, age-worthy dry whites made from the Chenin Blanc grape.

This takes patience, strength, and resilience for which the seahorse is a spiritual symbol (among other things). 🌊 It’s no wonder the Famille Joly features this beautiful, gentle creature on its bottle and labels.

This wine comes from ‘Les Vieux Clos’ where vines are harvested at 25 hL/ha which is HALF of the appellation’s allowance of 50 hL/ha.  👀

As a result of favorable growing conditions and these low yields, the grapes were allowed to become ripe, which explains the high alcohol at 14% ABV and round but balanced fruit expression.

This wine underwent a wild fermentation, followed by a natural malolactic conversion (MLC), and then it aged 12 months in large neutral oak with no fining or filtering before bottling.

The color is pale gold. On the nose and palate are harmonious notes of yellow apple, quince, papaya, dried orange peel, citrus blossom, chamomile, ginger, saffron, cinnamon, cream, white pepper, lanolin, wet slate …

It has power and elegance, nuance and vibrancy, with a persistent finish.  We think it pairs nicely with the baked herb & lemon salmon, asparagus and couscous.

Cheers to winemakers who share a piece of their land and heritage with the world one glass at a time! 🥂🥂🥂
— a month ago

with Deked1