Romanee-Conti 99pt Montrachet of USA "Unreal. Closing in on Perfection." Was Sold Out: Last 30 Bottles
Aubert de Villaine + Larry Hyde · Joint Family Venture · Est. 2000
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A Personal Note
Dear Artisans, To the uninitiated, Hyde de Villaine is a top-tier California Chardonnay. To the collector, it is a unicorn legend trading at a paltry price. It is the only venture in the world where Aubert de Villaine — the co-director and spiritual heart of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti — puts his name and expertise on a label outside of Burgundy. This is not a consultancy. It is a family legacy: Aubert's wife Pamela is a Hyde, and the two families built HdV together, vintage by vintage, since 2000. Now the allocation story. Our original 30 bottles of the 2023 sold out instantly. We went back, negotiated, and earned a final release of 30 more bottles — the last of the vintage we will ever see. They just landed. When a wine like this scores 99 points and costs less than a tank of gas for the names it keeps company with, it does not wait for a second read of the email. "If DRC's Montrachet is the unreachable, 100-point, $15,000 ideal — HdV is the same winemaking DNA and a 99-point reality for less than $85." James Tran
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Apples to Apples
The Titans of Chardonnay.
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| Wine | Scores | Per Bottle |
| Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet | 98-100 | $10,500–$16,000+ |
| Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne | 97-99 | $5,000–$10,000+ |
| Marcassin "Marcassin Vineyard" | 96-98 | $500–$10,000+ |
| Hyde de Villaine, Hyde Vineyard 2023 ✓ | 99 | $84.99 |
For the price of one bottle of DRC Montrachet, you could secure 188 bottles of HdV. The problem: only 30 exist here, out of roughly 2,700 cases made for the entire world.
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"A Vintage of a Lifetime."
Don't Take Our Word for It.
Just a snippet of the 2023 vintage praise — Decanter, the Wine Institute, Ridge, and Wine Industry Advisor. |
Hyde Vineyard, Carneros.
| DRC × Hyde | Old Wente + Calera | Final 30 Bottles |
| 99 James Suckling | 96 Decanter | 96 Vinous | 95 Wine Spectator |
Two heritage selections build its frame: the tiny, concentrated clusters of Old Wente (citrus blossom, yellow apple, a touch of gunpowder) and the fresh, vibrant Calera selection (pear, peach blossom, cut acidity). Petaluma Gap winds stretch the growing season; full malolactic, 20% new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Reminiscent of grand cru Burgundy, and built to age gracefully for two decades.
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James Suckling
99 Points
"This wine is truly excellent, showing a mineral-edged nose with pure energy and tension. Aromas of struck match, citrus blossoms, crushed stones and salted nuts. The palate is taut, with no hard edges and driving acidity that keeps you salivating for minutes. Closing in on perfection. Drink or hold." |
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Decanter
96 Points
"Wonderfully generous and beautifully velvety, with impressive fruit weight and a striking saline thread that infuses the citrus core... It delivers extraordinary length, tension, and energy, balanced by real generosity of fruit. The finish is driven by oyster-shell and river-rock minerality, with white florals, tangerine oil, and lemon oil. Spectacularly complete and nuanced. 2026–2038." |
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Vinous
96 Points
"The 2023 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard is airy, gracious and understated... Seamless and elegant in the glass, the Hyde is exquisitely finessed. Aeration brings out the wine's mid-palate oiliness and texture. The precision here is unreal." — Antonio Galloni |
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Wine Spectator
95 Points
"An impressive white, with toasted fennel seed, honeysuckle, Opal apple and white peach flavors that are generous and plump, plus a drizzle of clover honey, salted toffee, lemon meringue and salted, toasted brioche. The fruit flavors take over on the finish, expanding in different directions with plenty of oomph and intensity. Drink now through 2036." — MaryAnn Worobiec |
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Vineyard: Hyde, eastern edge of Los Carneros
Clones: "Old Wente" (1979) & Calera selections
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Cellar: 20% new French oak · unfined & unfiltered
Production: ~2,700 cases · final 30 bottles at Artisan
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| $84.99 | 1/188th the price of DRC Montrachet |
From the Same Heritage Vines.
The insider's insider bottle: Stéphane Vivier — the winemaker of HdV itself — makes a few barrels of his own personal Chardonnay from the same hallowed vineyard, using 30-year-old Wente vines. Just 318 cases exist, at a gentle 12.5% alcohol.
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James Suckling
98 Points
"A brilliant, fresh and linear white from a great single vineyard. It shows good restraint in texture and vivid, tangy fruit, lemon meringue and mineral flavors. Racy acidity... Firmly structured and destined to age very well. Drinkable now, but best from 2028." |
| $81.99 |
The greatest Corton-Charlemagne-like Chardonnay in Oregon: third-generation Jim Maresh's tiny-production masterpiece from a small block of Wente clone planted in 1983 — salty minerality, pulpy Meyer lemon, and near-viscous stone fruit. Only 240 cases made.
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Vinous
97 Points
"Seduces with a burst of crushed flint stones, dusty sage, nectarine and gingery spice. Its textures are otherworldly, nearly oily yet sleek... this 2023 Chardonnay leaves the palate reeling with tension, salty and lime intense, with a strong mineral resonance that adds lasting crunchiness. Gorgeous today yet balanced for a long evolution." — Eric Guido |
| $74.97 |
From a dark, forested coastal canyon four miles off the Pacific: own-rooted, dry-farmed Old Wente vines planted in 1980, harvested into mid-October for steely acidity, minerality, and salt. The Advocate calls it "one of the more consistent Chardonnays in California."
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Wine Advocate
93+ Points
"Balances a soft, inviting texture with a chiseled, focused frame. The nose is floral and oceanic... Cutting and laser-like in its attack, the palate is balanced and spry with a chalky, clean and long finish. Its bright, strident style has positively influenced others toward restraint and vibrancy." |
| $59.99 |
DRC's DNA. 99 points. $84.99.
Gone by dinner time. Move fast.
The only wine on Earth carrying Aubert de Villaine's name outside Burgundy, in a vintage being hailed as one of a lifetime, at 1/188th the price of DRC Montrachet. Our first 30 bottles vanished instantly; these final 30 are the last of the vintage we will ever offer.
And behind it, the whole Wente bloodline: HdV's own winemaker's 318-case personal label, Oregon's Corton-Charlemagne, and the last seven bottles of Arnot-Roberts' coastal classic. The greatest-yet-still-affordable American Chardonnays of the vintage, in one email.
Cheers,
— James Tran
| HdV — $84.99 | Vivier Hyde — $81.99 |
| Arterberry Maresh — $74.97 | Arnot-Roberts — $59.99 |
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