2002 Chevalier Montrachet

Bright yellow-gold. Classic refined aromas of pineapple, yellow peach, wet stone, warm baguette and oatmeal, plus a whiff of marzipan. Concentrated, tactile, salty and deep, offering impressive body and breadth. The wine's dense flavors of yellow fruits and flowers are complemented by an element of sweet, harmonious oak and perfectly supported by underlying mineral spine. Finishes tactile and very long, with a powerful element of dusty stone and outstanding length. Delivers a rare combination of fully ripe fruit and classic dryness, no doubt due in part to three weeks of drying north winds before the harvest. "This is a blanc de blanc while the '03 is a rouge de blanc ," offered Morandière. One of my sentimental favorites at the vertical tasting, and perfect today. (14% alcohol; 3.24 pH; the harvest began on September 20)

This was by some margin the best bottle that I've encountered to date of Leflaive's 2002 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, and the wine is beginning to become very interesting on the nose, wafting from the glass with complex aromas of citrus oil, mandarin, warm bread, fresh peach, pear and vanilla pod. On the palate, it's full-bodied, satiny and layered, with a fleshy, multidimensional core, lively acids and an elegant profile, without the muscle of a vintage such as 2005 or 1989 but with more concentration than a supple, open-knit year such as 2000. By the numbers, it's 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.24.

Four beautiful wines from Leflaive are poured with the first course; a side-by-side comparison of the Chevalier and Bâtard across vintages 1996 and 2002. The 2002 Chevalier is much more forward, honeyed and viscous, almost unnaturally so. I suspect a less than perfect bottle.