2017 St Aubin 1er Cru La Chateniere

Tank sample. 55-year-old vines. One of the first sectors of St-Aubin to be planted with Chardonnay instead of Pinot. This is unusual in St-Aubin because it is steep and south-west facing, very calcareous and has very little wind. Will be bottled next week. Used to have to bottle sooner because they needed the place in the cellar. Three months in tank and taking time means you don’t have to filter. Intense, ripe citrus and grapefruit nose. Super-rich in the mouth, so generous but also so tense and fresh. The balance and intensity in these limpid wine is truly wonderful. A touch of mealy spice on the finish hides just how taut and fresh it is. Builds in the mouth to complex intensity. Eat your heart out Chassagne. (JH)

(from two parcels of 50-year-old vines): Bright, light yellow with green highlights. Reticent nose shows a green apple note and a hint of oxidation, as the malolactic fermentation only finished a couple weeks before my visit. Thick, sappy and dry, with a glyceral solidity leavened by almost painful acidity. This deep but youthfully disjointed wine is a shock to the palate today. With its oily texture and notes of resiny wild herbs, this wine conveys a strong place character. Colin describes La Chatenière as "the oldest place for Chardonnay in Saint-Aubin and a great terroir ," noting that his parcels face southwest and are protected from wind. The crop level here was 48 hectoliters per hectare in 2017. This wine needs a racking and is evolving slowly.