1997 Le Montrachet

The 1997 Montrachet It exhibits deep aromas of stones, minerals, honeysuckle blossoms, candied hazelnuts, and sweet oak spices. It is extraordinarily expansive, pure, richly textured, and superbly delineated. Akin to liquid silk, it has enormously ripe yet fresh flavors of red currants, raspberries, minerals, peaches, apricots, and poached pears that persist in the finish. It is a levitating experience to taste, one I have not yet forgotten. Bravo! Importer: Ex Cellars, Boston, MA; tel (617) 876-5105.

(from a .32 ha parcel of vine on the Chassagne side). Expressive, very ripe, massively scaled, opulent, exotic, still primary fruit nose explodes from the glass to reveal lush, round, powerful flavors that just ooze extract yet have sufficient buffering acidity to keep everything in fine balance. This is a very big wine and definitely for those who admire colossal Montrachet and while all of the size, ripeness and extract are indeed impressive and dramatic, subtlety is not this wine's strong suit. Allen Meadows- Burghound 02/04/03