Freddy R. Troya

8.9

Yarden – Chardonnay – 2023
Galilee – Golan Heights Winery, Israel 🇮🇱

Overview
A dry, terroir-driven Chardonnay from the elevated vineyards of the Galilee and Golan Heights, where altitude and cooler temperatures preserve freshness and minerality. This is a restrained, modern expression, focused more on clarity and balance than overt oak influence, allowing site and fruit purity to take center stage.

Aromas & Flavors
Clean and expressive with notes of tropical fruit layered over subtle orchard tones. Pineapple and ripe mango lead, followed by baked pear, green sliced apple, and a light citrus peel accent. Mineral undertones add definition and keep the fruit in check.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a refreshing line through the palate. The texture is smooth yet energetic, finishing dry and clean with lingering fruit and mineral tension.

Food Pairings (Kosher-friendly)
Grilled or roasted fish, herb-roasted chicken, vegetable couscous, quinoa salads, or kosher cheeses such as aged gouda or manchego-style alternatives. Also excellent with Mediterranean mezze or simple olive-oil–driven dishes.

Verdict
A well-made, honest Chardonnay that delivers freshness, balance, and a clear sense of place. Not flashy or heavily oaked, but dependable and expressive, an easy recommendation for those who enjoy mineral-driven, food-friendly whites.

Did You Know?
Yarden sources fruit from some of Israel’s highest-elevation vineyards, where cooler nights help maintain acidity, key to the wine’s freshness and structure.

🍷 Personal Pick Highlight
I appreciate the purity here. Clean, mineral, and refreshing, with just enough fruit weight to stay engaging. A solid kosher, non-mevushal Chardonnay that respects both terroir and balance. — 2 days ago

Ellen Clifford

9.1

F-ing delightful, Pegasus, take me away. Well first let the Pegasus catch its breath (aka let the vino breath), then hop on. Smells a little earthy as a winged horse is want to be, but take sip and the steed takes flight. Fly through hella raspberry…orchards? Descend enough to grab those and some cherries fresh off the tree then accelerate through a tunnel of (politefully chill) oak barrels and chill. Oh! But this flight didn’t have turbulence rather (abandoning metaphor) it is supes silky but while it punches with fruit and pepper it then smooths itself across your tongue like a lace tablecloth. Aka achieves smoothness with texture and the flavors and sensations seem to pop all over my tongue prior to my hopping on my metaphorical pegasus who is (describing the finish) descending into a cherry orchard (not just cause I’m doing a stage reading of Chekhov’s “Cherry Orchard” soon) and lovingly (as lovingly as a creature with wings and hooves can) sending me to find my way back through the barrels to who knows? It’s like I’m Alice in Wrinkle in Time-land. Cool Pinot from NZ I’d like to take another flight on a different Pegasus Air line. Just to see. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Now the high end Jurgen wines. Sick nose. Incredible. The next cult German Pinot. It’s so obvious. Nose of intense black cherries, mid season best of bunch red cherries, some cooling blueberry that echoes Cecile Tremblay. Loads of spice and earth. But so so so refined. Delicate yet intense nose. Superb. Beguiling. Huge minerality. Smells like red rocks. You sniff for 10 minutes before you sip as it is so good and keeps changing. After 10 minutes there is massive complex aromas. Palate has insane inner mouth perfume and massive elegance. Incredible palate. Mega juicy and so complex. So pure and clean. Lithe and elegant but intensely flavored with bursting mid season red and black cherries. Incredible energy and sweetness of fruit and man it is so so elegant. Pure as the driven snow. This is mega elite. The intensity combined with delicacy is incredible. Masterful balance and top of the line purity. Delicate and powder tannins with perfect ethereal ripeness. 9.5 for now. But I see this going higher. Insanely long finish. — 5 years ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Arthur Metz – Crémant d’Alsace Cuvée Prestige (N/V)
Alsace – France 🇫🇷

Overview
Made in the traditional method, this Crémant d’Alsace blends Pinot Blanc, Pinot Auxerrois, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay (exact ratios not disclosed). Arthur Metz, founded in 1904, is one of Alsace’s largest and most recognized sparkling producers, with a long tradition of crisp, approachable fizz.

Aromas & Flavors
Dry, floral, with grapefruit zest, ripe mineola, and mandarin peel. Light orchard fruit notes bring freshness, accented by a subtle mineral edge.

Mouthfeel
Clean, crisp, and light-bodied. Fine bubbles carry bright citrus flavors into a refreshing, easy-to-drink finish. Very much in line with traditional Alsatian sparkling style.

Food Pairings
Ideal as an aperitif, with shellfish, sushi, or light salads. Also pairs nicely with goat cheese or Alsatian tarte flambée.

Verdict
A lively, floral, and citrus-driven Crémant d’Alsace. Easy to enjoy, refreshingly light, and a great alternative to Champagne at an approachable price point. 🍾✨

Did You Know?
Crémant d’Alsace is France’s most popular Crémant AOC, with over 30 million bottles produced annually — yet it often delivers Champagne-like character for a fraction of the price. — 3 months ago

Ely Cohn

9.2

Idiosyncratic Chardonnay with a lineup of notes that seem bizarrely out of box but come together in a wonderful way to form something I won't forget. No playbook for Chardonnay in Beaujolais.

This is extroverted and wavers between an artificial grapiness and blossoming florals, ripe orchard, citrus, and tropical fruits. Like Welch's grape soda or purple snow cones sitting there alongside the natural forms of green melon balls, fuzzy peach, soft apricot, and ginger.

Drank over three days and stayed consistent - the strangest mix I positively loved. — 4 years ago

Matté

Manager The Wine Cellars

9.1

Baked pear with a subtle touch of cinnamon, frangipane but also some more earthy notes of cheese rind, wet stone along with galia melon rind on the nose and some smoky honey.
Palate has good poise and balance with a fine line of acidity keeping the quite weighty orchard fruit lifted, even edges into some light and very refreshing tangerine citrus character.

Nice amount of age but should continue to develops for some years, represents excellent value for money.

(Jacquère planted on limestone) — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.8

The 2007 Montrachet pours a bright yellow color with medium viscosity. On the nose, the wine is developing with insane notes of ripe orchard fruit and a little tropical fruit too: peach, Meyer lemon, lime, even some orange along with starfruit, and passion fruit. There’s also honeysuckle, some nuts and OMG, don’t even get me started on the minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is forever long. The fruit and acid are in perfect balance. A wow wine in a line-up of wow wines. Drink now and through 2047. — 10 months ago

Devin Brown

8.9

The description: A wonderful bouquet of whites spices, a core of fresh pear and apple, wild white flowers and a white sand mineral quality. Youthful, complex and enticing. Satin-cream textures lead to a core of white fleshed orchard fruit flavours, some spice and mineral and acontrasting acid line. Refreshing, balanced, even and lengthy. Well made and ready to drink from 2022 through 2026.
The opinion: I agree and think we are drinking it at exactly the right time! — 2 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.2

The 2019 Sancerre Les Chasseignes has a ripe and open expression. It fills the mouth with a sense of effortlessness, which Stephane Riffault puts down to both the caillottes soil and the ripeness of the vintage. It is in the riper spectrum of Sauvignon aromatics. This wine leaves the variety's green flavors far behind and focuses instead on orchard fruit and almost heads into the realms of tropical fruit, which isn't something you normally associate with Sancerre. Gently refreshing with the caillottes providing a line of chalkiness on the finish. One for the short to medium term due to the vintage's ripe profile. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, August 2021)
— 4 years ago

Adam Beasley

9.1

Give me all the Savoie Jaquere you’ve got. Sweet orchard fruit, alpine herbs, melted snow. Love it. — 5 years ago