2016 Bienvenues Batard Montrachet

Carillon produced merely one barrel of the 2016 Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, but the ensuing wine is superb, offering up aromas of tangerine oil, Meyer lemon, crisp yellow orchard fruit, dried white flowers and honeycomb, subtly framed by new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, with exceptional depth and length, broad-shouldered but elegant and incisive. I suspect the more structurally tight-knit Referts may be longer lived, but this Bienvenues will be the more striking over the first 15 years.

(just a single barrel produced as the crop was reduced 50% by frost): Reticent aromas of lemon zest and sweet oak. A distinct step up in density and power from the premier crus, with excellent acidity (4.4 grams per liter) giving balancing cut to the wine's considerable gras . Slightly high-toned flavors of citrus peel and saline minerality contribute to the impression of inner-mouth tension. This very youthful grand cru finishes firm and long, with excellent cut.

One (two-year-old) rather than the usual two casks. Tank sample. Needs a bit of encouragement out of the glass. Real weight here. Almost painful definition but it should make an excellent wine eventually. Long and intense. Not rich but weighty. Good balance even if not that dramatic. (JR)