Bouchard Père & Fils : Chevalier-Montrachet Grand cru Domaine 2022

Frédéric Weber explained his parcel-based approach to Chevalier, where the house has an enormous 2.33 hectares (in addition to their La Cabotte holding): the upper terrace shows tight energy and a lighter body, with a suggestion of citrus and fine bitters. The next terrace down delivers a wine with a hint of mandarin orange. The penultimate terrace gives a richer, more substantial wine with ripe apple aromas, while the lowest terrace yields the most powerful wine, almost resembling the honeyed density of Bâtard-Montrachet. The blend of them all is superb and will age for decades.

They say that first impressions are the most important, and my first impression of this is that it's the white Burgundy of my dreams. Astonishing Amalfi-lemon, pineapple and wildflower aromas with touches of flint and wet stones on the nose. Then comes the overwhelming minerality on the extremely concentrated, medium- to full-bodied palate. It is not only of mind-blowing intensity, but it just does not want to stop. The fruit is all there, but is right to the back of the stage upon which the stone figure of the heroine stands. And yet all of this is so precise and finely nuanced. From a 2.33-hectare parcel in this legendary site. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.

The 2022 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, which I preferred to the La Cabotte cuvée from barrel, is clean and precise on the nose: white fruit, sea cave, mirin and orange blossom gracefully unfurl in the glass. Superb delineation and focus, the oak extremely well integrated. The palate is very well balanced with a killer line of acidity. Impressive tension, built towards the slightly honeyed finish—maybe slightly later picked compared to its peers, yet that has not deprived it of any of its tension or minéralité. Magnificent. Bottled under Diam 10. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.