2016 Chevalier Montrachet

Pale, bright yellow. Yellow fruits and a smoky, flinty element on the rather subdued, slightly reduced nose; not showing the ineffable floral high notes it displayed from barrel a year ago. Utterly fine-grained and seamless on the palate, with its sweet yellow fruit flavors displaying noteworthy volume without any excess weight. A year ago this wine showed a lighter touch than the Cabotte in spite of its creaminess of texture but today it stands out for its almost glyceral depth and sweetness with firm framing minerality. A ripe, rich, substantial Chevalier-Montrachet without any obvious austerity. Finishes with slowly building, dusty length, excellent depth of texture and intriguing notes of soft citrus zest. This wine will give pleasure earlier than the Cabotte but has the stuffing to last well.

Tense and taut on the palate, with imposing fruit intensity and a long, powerful apple fruit on the aftertaste. Rich and substantial and attractively savoury to finish. (RH)

The 2016 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru has a detailed bouquet with attractive scents of almond and white chocolate tincturing the citrus fruit. The palate is well balanced with crisp acidity, quite cohesive and understated at first (like the Domaine Leflaive tasted earlier that day) with a sappy and convincing finish that is surfeit with minerals and a hint of tangerine. This is a very impressive, sophisticated Chevalier-Montrachet that I actually have a preference for over the La Cabotte this year.