2017 Batard Montrachet

On the Puligny side. Two 350-litre casks and one 228-litre pièce. Racked and back to barrel in August. Will spend several months in tank before bottling in May. Smells a little more oaky than Corton, a little more inviting. Spiced power hits immediately, no sneaking up like the Corton. Wonderfully rich from the start. Chewy, deep and fills the mouth. So intense it makes my eyes water even though the acidity is in balance. Incredible concentration. Endless yet with superb harmony even in infancy. Fabulous. (JH)

(Colin has two 350-liter barrels of Bâtard in 2017, as he has supplemented his parcel of 70-year-old vines with the equivalent of another barrique of wine from 85-year-old vines owned by his father-in-law on the Chassagne side of the appellation): Bright yellow-green. At once deeper-pitched and more discreet on the nose than the Bâtard but still offering lovely floral lift to its aromas of fresh white peach and pear blossom. Then wonderfully dense, even thick, in the mouth, but at the same time high-pitched, adamantly dry and classic, conveying a suggestion of smoked meat and a powerful, slightly phenolic character more akin to a red wine. The tiny berries here yielded just 28 hectoliters per hectare, and that may explain why this seriously concentrated wine is compact and austere in the early going. Delivering great volume without any undue weight, this very distinctive Bâtard will be slow to evolve and should be long-lived. (13.3% alcohol)