Chassagne Chenevottes 1er Cru 2018

The 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes opens in the glass with scents of citrus oil, white flowers, fresh nutmeg and green apple, framed by a touch of light reduction that dissipates with aeration. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny but precise, with lively acids and a long, mineral finish. I suspect it will become more honeyed and exotic as it ages. As I wrote last year, Niellon's son-in-law, Michel Coutoux, is routinely producing wines of impressively consistent quality and style. Coutoux describes the 2018 vintage as "another Burgundian classic," much the same terms he applied to his excellent 2017s, and this is one address where 2017 and 2018 are more first cousins than distant relations. As readers may remember, house fingerprint here is distinctive, with a touch of toasty oak from Saint-Romain's Tonnellerie Gillet marking each cuvée and the wines dependably distinguishing themselves with lovely texture and concentration. This is a domaine in fine form today, and readers who have fallen out of touch with the wines are advised to reacquaint themselves with this excellent producer.

Score: 92

William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2022-37 09 January 2020