2016 Chassagne Montrachet Les Chenevottes

(just 7 barrels of this juice --3 of them new--vs. a normal 30): Healthy, youthful bright yellow. Fresh ripe peach and nectarine on the nose, lifted by a spicy element. Lovely silky wine with good depth of fruit; not exotic or tropical but not green either. Ultimately displays more dusty mineral tension and better balance than the Vergers. The smooth finish features good subtle length. Here the effects of the hail are much less obvious.

Reduced from 21 to 7 barrels this vintage, the 2016 Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru les Chenevottes has a generous bouquet with toffee apple and smoked walnut aromas, lively if just missing the complexity that I have discerned in recent vintages. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, notes of white peach, tangerine and a touch of spice, with neatly integrated new oak (30% approximately) toward the finish. It might be depleted in quantity, but this is an impressive Chenevottes considering the growing season.

(Colin has 7 barrels of this juice, vs. a normal 30): Bright yellow. Nuanced but discreet nose combines yellow fruits, pear and spicy, smoky oak. Delivers a plush wave of orange and lemon fruit on the palate, but also a strong element of saline soil character missing from so many 2016s. At once fat and silky, this wine finishes with very good energy, grip and length. An excellent showing today, especially for such a tiny yield.