Steely Chablis, racy with a beam of clean, pure fruit and mineral character. Razorlike texture, without flesh and opulence, but with age it could turn into a beauty. Best from 2003 through 2010. 300 cases made, 100 cases imported.??–PM??Region: France / Burgundy / Chablis Select to Add

The 2000 Chablis Bel Air offers aromas reminiscent of smoky pears and toast. It is broader, meatier, and more opulent than the Rosette, yet less focused and reveals a slightly shorter finish. Sun-baked wet gravel, chalk, creamed toast, ripe pears, and spices are found in the deep, highly expressive core of this great Chablis. Medium-bodied and velvety-textured, this wine has loads of depth, concentration, and fruit. Drink it over the next 5 years.The de Moors are the Jean-Marc Joblot of the Chablisien: Producers whose wines far exceed the expectations given the supposed potential of their terroirs. God only knows what they’d be capable of if they owned parcels in Chablis’s famed grand crus.These are the finest values I’ve encountered from Burgundy in ages! Alice and Olivier de Moor are a dying breed, vignerons in the Chablisien who cut no corners. Yields are kept moderate, harvests are performed by human beings (as opposed to machines, the norm in Chablis), grapes are sorted, only indigenous yeasts are employed, the wines are fermented as well as aged in used barrels, and they are neither fined nor filtered prior to bottling. The de Moors’s dedication and conscientious work ethic, when combined with a great vintage (as was 2000 in Chablis), brings about results such as these.Importer: A Roy Cloud Selection, Vintage ‘59 Imports, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 966-9218

Both the 1995 Chablis Bel Air and Chablis La Rosette are made in a pure, crisp, fresh style that offers medium body, good fruit, and no evidence of wood. They are clean, pure examples of Chablis that should drink well for 2-3 years.The one thing that stands out in the wines reviewed in this segment is their purity, freshness, and focus. Each wine, whether it is the Bourgogne Aligote, Sauvignon Blanc, or Chablis, possesses a distinctive minerality, elegance, and sense of balance. They are not overblown, big wines, nor are they cunningly wooded to seduce tasters. What they offer are gobs of fresh, lively fruit and character.North Berkeley Wines, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 848-8910 and (800) 266-6585; fax (510) 848-0841