2016 Chassagne Montrachet Les Baudines

Pierre-Yves Colin's 2016 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Baudines is another premier cru that seems a touch facile this year, revealing a pretty nose of roasted notes, ripe orchard fruit and peach pit, followed by a glossy, medium-bodied plate that's pretty and nicely balanced but lacks some concentration and depth.

Quite like Les Chevenottes but 50 m higher and a bit more clayey. Ripens about a week later than Les Chenevottes. ‘The Morgeot of altitude – power and finesse.’ Barrel sample. Very perfumed on the nose, even though it is straight from barrel and thus colder. Lovely note of orange and even white blossom and a hint of creamy/nutty oak and some spice. Pure citrus fruit on the palate, cool and elegant. Less drive than the Abbaye de Morgeot and has real finesse and perfume and a little more volume in the mouth. But even with that perfume there’s a lovely chalky, mineral quality. Already so open on the palate. Great length again. The power is more concentrated in the middle of the wine than on the length. A lower centre of gravity. (JH)

(production was down a moderate 20% in 2016, according to Colin): Pale yellow. Deeply pitched aromas of yellow peach, green apple and crushed stone show a slightly resiny medicinal quality. Then pliant, ripe, dense and sweet in the middle palate, conveying an impression of low acidity. This fruit was harvested at just 12% potential alcohol and was not chaptalized, yet the wine displays more sweetness than the Morgeot, which is carrying about 2.5 g/l residual sugar. Not yet hugely complex but long on the finish. Colin describes this wine as "almost classic," noting that Baudines is never as ripe as Abbaye de Morgeot.