2018 Chardonnay Unique

The 2018 Chardonnay Malans Unique is Martin Donatsch's Grand Cru, and its character is that of a great Burgundy. This is super clear, deep, fresh and complex on the bright and stony-chalky but also fruit-intense nose, which is only initially reductive but gets finer and fresher with aeration. This is a full-bodied, lush, ripe and elegant wine with remarkable finesse, fine tannins and mineral freshness that lifts the finish into stimulating heights. Very salty, and all the power is carried away by a highway built on salt. The finish is tight, intense and very complex. The Unique remains one of the finest Chardonnay from Switzerland. The 2018 is already accessible but shows a tight tannic and mineral grip that gives great hope for the future. A pity I couldn't directly compare it side by side with the 2017, which I had several weeks before and published that review earlier this month, but it seemed to have even more freshness and tension. Tasted in January 2020.