“Fantastic length, concentration and energy!” – The Wine Advocate, 96 points

“The La Combe Verte punches well above its price.” - Vinous

The Walter Scott ‘La Combe Verte’ Chardonnay 2021 is a stunning wine by any measure - well, not any measure, I mean a tape-measure would be useless, as would a speedometer, but can we move along please, I have a lot to say and I don’t have time for any more of your petty interruptions. All of the wines that it pays homage to with its flinty, matchstick aromas and its insanely complex palate (Coche-Dury, Le Moine, Colin-Morey, Leflaive, Arnaud Ente), are no longer affordable to mere mortals like us, so this is exactly the sort of discovery that you demand of us and rightly so! There may come a time when the name, Walter Scott, will appear between those brackets too, but for now it is an estate that has only just set foot on the travellator and begun gliding serenely past its peers. The Wine Advocate’s reviews for the new Walter Scott releases have just been published and all 15 wines sit within a bracket of 93 to 99 points, a notable rise on previous years, so it’s not just our view that this is a domaine going places fast.

The ‘La Combe Verte’ 2021 is a truly world-class Chardonnay, which you can confidently take to a dinner party in the safe knowledge that it will be the wine of the night, no matter what your friends bring along. And if it isn’t, then may we politely suggest that you don’t change your wine merchant, you change your friends!

I know that £39.50 is a bit of reach for a lot of people at the moment, but if you are going to splash out on the word of a wine merchant, I want to make sure you get what you pay for and I think this could sit in the company of any fine white Burgundy or new world Chardonnay at twice the price.

Organically farmed/ biodynamically farmed

Press review:

The Wine Advocate: “The 2021 Chardonnay La Combe Verte opens from matchstick to intense peach perfume and nuances of beeswax, almonds and acacia. The medium-bodied palate explodes with layer after layer of powerful fruit, delivered in a luxuriously silky texture and tempered by focused acidity. The Combe Verte offers fantastic length, concentration and energy! Drink 2024-2034.” 96 points

JancisRobinson.com: “A blend of Witness Tree, Freedom Hill, Kusa and Loubejac vineyards. 20% new oak. No fining on anything since 2019. Medium lemon in colour. Delicate white florals on the nose, yellow apple, just-ripe apricot, lemon, flinty reduction and a touch of vanilla from wood. The palate is saline with mouth-wateringly high acid that drives through the finish. Quite textural. Needs some time to unwind. Drink 2024-2027.” 17+ points

Customer comments:

“Very stylish and restrained!” - Mr A.W.