The 2018 Chablis Les Blanchots La Réserve de l’Obedience Grand Cru is blessed with a wonderful bouquet: white peach, quince, Japanese yuzu and subtle ground stone scents, all beautifully delineated. The palate is very well balanced with a lively entry and a touch of licorice (not a trait you often find on Chablis, but it works!). Great energy here and real depth. The slightly viscous finish lingers long in the mouth. A superb La Réserve de l’Obedience, even if not the very best vintage in recent years.

The 2018 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru is more open and engaging on the nose compared with the Les Blanchots. There is slightly more terroir expression here, though I would not claim it superior to some of Laroche’s Premier Crus. The palate is much better, featuring sour lemon, lemon sherbet, sage and dill, quite complex, with a very well-defined and persistent finish. Real Grand Cru on the finish for sure – just cellar this for 3–5 years before broaching.

The 2018 Chablis Les Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru offers green apples, lime, sea spray and light grilled almond notes on a nose that takes a few swirls of the glass to get going. The palate is well balanced, with a faint tang of dried quince and bitter lemon on the entry. I admire the salinity and savory finish of this Vaillons, though I suspect it will show best in its youth. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong!

The 2018 Chablis Les Vaudevey 1er Cru offers attractive honeysuckle and orange pith scents on a nose that gradually achieves greater delineation with aeration. The palate is well balanced with a lively opening: lemon zest, dried orange peel, and a touch of ginger coming through with aeration. Quite long on the finish, this is a fine, easygoing Vaudevey that I suspect will be best broached in the flush of youth.

The 2018 Chablis Les Blanchots Grand Cru did not quite engage the senses on the nose. Following on from the delightful Côte de Léchet, it is just missing a bit of lift and vigor. The palate is much better, featuring lemon zest, lime and light orange peel notes on the entry, a fine bead of acidity, and a concentrated, quite penetrating finish that leaves a saline aftertaste. I will be prudent with my score for now, hoping that the aromatics will get their act together.

Intense, offering lavender, honeysuckle, apricot, lemon and saline flavors, packed into a creamy texture. Vibrant, converging on the long aftertaste, where lemon and stone elements collide. Drink now through 2025. 330 cases made, 50 cases imported.

Top notes of jasmine and rose add perfume to the cherry and blackberry core in this concentrated red. Elegant yet firmly structured, with dense, dusty tannins gripping the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2021 through 2030. 1,000 cases made, 250 cases imported.

Vanilla, blackberry, plum and earth flavors ply the dense, burly profile of this powerful red. Fresh and balanced, giving this the possibility to develop well over time. Comes together nicely on the finish, where a floral element emerges. Drink now through 2028. 800 cases made, 119 cases imported.

Ripened in the ample sun of Les Clos, with its direct southern exposure, this is packed with flavor intensity, straight through to its bright, sunny finish. Laroche owns 2.77 acres of the vineyard, the vines 30 to 50 years old; its 2017 feels vibrant and youthfully grand, with Meyer lemon richness wrapped in smoky, briny soil notes. This has the substance to develop for a decade or more.

Covering a knoll below Vaillons, this 17-acre parcel sustains 70-year-old vines on Kimmeridgian limestone. Aged in French oak foudre, its fruit delivers a bright wine with the immediate richness of a briny shellfish stock, layering langoustine, oyster and scallop freshness into notes of green apple and honeycomb. The wine’s clean power races through sun and shadows with a wow factor that’s unusual for a village Chablis. Delicious.

The 2017 Chablis Les Blanchots Grand Cru is airy in the glass, with a real feeling of translucent energy that distinguishes it in this range. White flowers, citrus, orchard fruit and light tropical accents all grace this understated, nuanced 1er Cru. This is such a pretty wine.

A finely structured Rosso with firmness and density, showing plums and a hint of citrus. Medium body. Fresh finish. Drink now.

This is a fascinating red that evolves wonderfully with air from leather, mushroom and dusty aromas to dried flowers and plums. Medium body. Firm and lightly chewy tannins with intense acidity. Traditional, as always. Decanting recommended. Drink or hold.

Strawberries and orange peel with a hint of oyster shell. Medium body. Asphalt undertones. Juicy finish. Drink now.

This is a terrific Piedmont red to pair with a classic quiche Lorraine. The Elvio Cogno 2019 Langhe Nebbiolo Montegrilli is a delicate and fragile expression with bright accents of chopped mint and medicinal herb that hover over a core of wild cherry and dried raspberry. The wine delivers soft and smooth aromas that define the character of this pretty wine. Dusty tannins and some lingering mineral notes frame a polished finish. A portion of the wine sees whole-cluster fermentation, and winemaking is straightforward in stainless steel. Some 10,000 bottles were released.

Delicious dolcetto here with crushed black fruit and hints of vanilla. Medium body. Creamy and delicious. Drink now.

Another very successful barbera with subtle citrus character, dried violets and lavender. Medium-bodied yet quite spicy, this paints bright, dark fruit in watercolors. Drink now.

When a famous global brand enters the isolated enclave of Priorat, does it have the sensitivity to make a fine wine? Mas de la Rosa proves it’s possible. A small vineyard, lit by the morning sun, where 80-year-old Garnacha and Cariñena grow on steep slopes. 2016 was the first vintage and Torres has captured the delicacy of the vineyard. It’s silky with penetrating freshness, offering a memory of the slate soil. A great beginning.

The ’great walls’ in the wine’s name protected the nearby Poblet monastery, which was the burial place of the Catalan kings. The magisterial blend highlights the family work on ancestral varieties, with Querol and Garró adding to the superbly intense and spicy palate. Liquorice, garrigue, succulent berry fruits, developing notes of leather with time, an elegant vintage.

Brisk and fresh, with lovely rose petal and orange blossom aromas, and crisp lemon and strawberry flavors that linger. Drink now. 16,333 cases made.