Skip to product information
< Continue Shopping

Buy any 6 bottles and get free Ground shipping

Reviews

94 -Wine Spectator -

92 -Vinous -

Technical Details

  • Blend 100% Chardonnay
  • Winemaker Jean Pascal
  • Country France
  • Region Burgundy
  • Sub Region Côte de Beaune
  • Appellation Puligny-Montrachet
  • Vineyard Les Chalumaux
  • Oak Aged in French oak barrels, 25% new
  • Aging / Cooperage Aged in French oak barrels, 25% new, 4 months blended in Stainless Steel tank before bottling
  • Alcohol 14.0%
  • Production 300 cases

Joseph Pascal et Fils Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux Premier Cru 2023

Chardonnay | Burgundy

WS94

SPECIAL: Ground shipping included on 3+ bottles!

$215.00

$94.95

750ML

55% OFF RETAIL!

Really good white Burgundy has this righteous reputation for being something most people admire from a distance. You either plan to get some one day, when the occasion is right, or you put the ones you do have far out of reach for some distant, unforeseeable “right” special moment. But it’s a fabulously rare day when the wine is exceptional and the price is approachable enough to make the right moment, this moment… and today’s that day!

(And that, folks, is a live look at how you can rationalize buying anything. You are welcome.) But seriously, go ahead and Google “Puligny-Montrachet 2023 vintages”. Better yet, throw the vineyard “Les Chalumeaux” into the search bar. Really, do it! What you’ll find is a list of gloriously complex, robust, and beautiful white Burgundy wines from all-star producers creeping up toward the $200 range and beyond. And rightfully so. This rocky limestone and marl-strewn Premier Cru grows some truly next-level, mind-melting Chardonnay grapes from its high position on the slope.

Alas, we have a sensational expression from a stalwart Puligny-Montrachet producer for less than $95. I’m not sure what sorcery our head buyer did to shave over $100 off the retail tag, but I’m also not going to ask questions. This – no question – is one of the finest, most mesmerizingly crisp and layered Chardonnays I’ve had in a very long time (and I love Chardonnay).

My notes: Strong lemon-lime nose with red Anjou pear, wet stones, and a bit of white pepper. Citrus explosion in the mouth that softens into chalky earth, vanilla, hazelnut, and sea spray. The acidity is present but not overwhelming, and the finish carries on and on. Bright, expressive, and surprisingly warm at the end.

Definitely one to grab a couple of, if possible, as it will keep and transform beautifully over the coming decade. But as noted, it’s just as pleasing and friendly to open right now – and I vehemently recommend doing so. Carpe diem!

About The Producer

The Pascal story begins in the early 1900s, when Joseph Pascal arrived in the village of Puligny-Montrachet to work the land, eventually settling down and starting a family. His son Jean honed his craft at none other than Domaine Leflaive — arguably the most celebrated white Burgundy estate on the planet — before striking out on his own in the early 1950s, acquiring the first family vineyard parcels with his wife Cécile. In 1975, Jean-Luc joined his parents and they formally established the domaine, growing it to 14 hectares spread across four Côte de Beaune communes: Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Auxey-Duresses, and Volnay. Today the estate is in the hands of the fourth generation — Yann, who oversees the vineyards, and his wife Alexandra, a winemaker of serious chops who runs both production and the commercial side of the business. In Les Chalumeaux, the domaine is actually the largest landowner in what is a somewhat under-the-radar but genuinely excellent premier cru, tucked immediately above Chevalier-Montrachet on the upper slope. The 2023 earned 94 points from Wine Spectator and 92 from Vinous — Neal Martin calling it "more understated but more complex" than neighboring premiers crus, with crushed stone and malic lift on the nose and a tensile, precisely focused finish that should drink well through 2038. Four generations deep, trained at Leflaive, and still flying a little under the radar — this is exactly the kind of Burgundy we love.