Anne et Jean-Francois Ganevat, Arces Chardonnay, Arbois

Rating: 4,1/5,0.

Straw yellow in the glass. Salty preserved Moroccan lemons, flinty, stony and waxy as well. Great balance and freshness, more lemons and green apples, just a kiss of the usual yeast and nuttyness, but nothing overbearing or too funky on this one. Me likey!

Organically farmed Chardonnay made with purchased fruit. Fermented spontaneously, vinified completely without any SO2. Aged for 2 years in old oak foudres. 12,5% alcohol. Youthful pale green color. Somewhat wild, funky and slightly bretty nose with sweet-toned aromas of waxy funk, some cider apple, light juicy notes of ripe lemony citrus fruits, a little bit of smoky phenolic spice, a hint of Band-Aid and a touch of quince. The wine feels intense, somewhat concentrated and quite noticeably saline on the …

great tension & length.

Dinner at MingHin (Chicago, IL) : Slightly cidery and sappy on the palate; there's a bit of a natty quality to this. Good minerality, but there's a bit of a hollowness on the midpalate that I don't love. The play with Ganevat, of course, is the domaine wines.

Noche de Difuntos (Alicante - España) : Returned to pens. Disgusting in the mouth and very shy in the nose. Another open bottle when Jonah was swallowed by the whale. Somelier agrees and spits it directly to the sink. I begin to verify that the rotation of bottles is not of a higher category here. Devuelta a corrales. Repugnante en boca y muy tímida en nariz. Otra botella abierta cuando a Jonás se lo tragó la ballena. El somelier está …

Lemon, lime, prominent acids, subtile bitter, fine and pure, very long, the cold climat is showing.

A bit greasy, clearly chardonnay, some jonagold apples, nicely balanced. After 4 days in the fridge the greasiness disappeared and what remained was: lemon, a lot of finesse and really delicate acidity throughout. Reminds me of top rieslin now because of the acidity and elegance.

La Flandre Chardonnay 2016 - Arbois - Anne et JF Ganevat (négoce) Un vin qui se présente sur une robe très claire avec un nez assez pur, fleurs blanches, agrumes et un fond de brioche. Leger perlant en attaque, la bouche est assez cristalline, minérale avec un retour de matière en finale sur un style qui se rapproche de la côte de Beaune. C’est plutôt bien fait, certainement un peu cher, mais il faut reconnaître que le style est maîtrisé …