2015 St Aubin Blanc Le Ban

The 2015 Saint-Aubin Le Banc offers up aromas of lemon oil, grapefruit pith, white flowers and crisp apple, framed by a touch of light reduction. On the palate, the wine is glossy and concentrated with good volume, a bright line of acidity and genuinely impressive grip and tension on the finish. While one normally expects a certain immediacy from Saint-Aubin villages, opening bottles from my cellar suggests that the Le Banc is actually shutting down—much like Pierre-Yves' grander appellations—and will clearly benefit from several years in the cellar.

Pale bright yellow. Pear drop and menthol on the ripe but lively nose. Saint-Aubin in a rather opulent style, but with a slightly aggressive quality to its menthol and mineral flavors. Densely packed but a bit disjointed today, with higher acidity than most of Colin's other 2015 whites (4.2 grams per liter, vs. about 4.0 for the cellar as a whole).

Cask sample. 20-year-old vines. But this parcel didn’t suffer drought stress – a bit later. Perhaps the tiniest bit of reduction but really very fine and racy. Less density than the Bourgogne Chardonnay but very fine and precise. Very neat even if not expansive. (JR)