2016 Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets

Wafting from the glass with a reserved bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, crushed chalk and dried white flowers, the 2016 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Caillerets is medium to full-bodied, pure and glossy, with an ample, voluminous attack, good concentration and an unmistakably mineral, chalky undercurrent that dominates the tongue-tingling finish. It's a bit more open-knit than the most tensile, incisive vintages of Colin's Caillerets, but it's a definite success in the vintage.

The 2016 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Cailleret, like the Les Champs Gain, was just missing that killer sense of delineation that is the hallmark of the domaine's finest white burgundies. The palate is better with a lively saline entry, a fine bead of acidity, not a powerful Chassagne-Montrachet but there is a sense of harmony toward the finish. Probably one for earlier drinking, this just seems a little knocked off pace by the challenges of the growing season. Dec 2017, www.robertparker.com