Grands Crus For Now and Later
by Dustin Soiseth
2022 Riesling Grand Cru “Eichberg”
France | Alsace
Kuentz-Bas’ Trois Châteaux wines come from the vineyards around the village of Husseren-les-Châteaux, situated beneath the ruins of three ancient lookout towers. In medieval times, these towers—the Trois Châteaux—guarded against invaders, but today they keep watch over a sea of vines. On gentle slopes below the châteaux that are shielded by the Vosges mountains, the Eichberg vineyard’s limestone and marl terroir is ideal for Riesling and yields dense, aromatically complex wines known for their longevity. Tightly coiled right now, with a cool nose of green apple and petrol, this wine will need a few years to truly blossom. If you celebrated a major life event in 2022 and need a bottle to mark the occasion a few decades hence, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more suitable grand cru white wine at this price.
2023 Chablis Grand Cru “Vaudésir”
France | Burgundy
More often than not, enjoying a grand cru in top form, like the Riesling mentioned above, is an exercise in patience, but not always. Sometimes, dame nature cuts us some slack and delivers grand cru wines that don’t oblige us to lash ourselves to the mast, Odysseus-style, to resist their siren song until they’re ready to drink. The Chablis from the 2023 vintage, including the grands crus, are proving to be just this type of engaging early bloomers. Lavantureux’s Vaudésir has not only a substance and density befitting a grand cru site, but also the sunny opulence that characterizes the vintage, and a roundness that lingers before giving way to a textbook Chablis zing. Enjoy now, with gusto.