2016 Meursault Chevalieres

Bright straw-yellow. Musky crushed-stone minerality lifts aromas of fresh peach, lime and orange zest. Boasts terrific salty intensity and minerality on the palate, with an old-vines intensity and inner-mouth tension that call for at least a few years of bottle aging. A concentrated midweight with strong soil character and noteworthy rising, palate-dusting persistence. I prefer this to the Gruyaches for its mineral lift, salinity and stony precision. I tasted these 2016s in New York in August, but at the estate at the beginning of June Jean-Philippe Fichet's assistant Joann Hervey expressed the opinion that the 2016s are closed up and in need of time. I find them more harmonious than that but this Chevalières certainly calls for patience.

Rather light and herbal on the nose and then aggressively tart and watery. (JR)

(Fichet has recently pulled up a portion of the oldest vines here for replanting): Medium bright yellow. Lovely lime flower lift to the aromas of white peach, lemon and crushed stone. Tactile and lively, with a strong mineral element complicated by hints of anise and fresh herbs. Finishes saline, palate-coating and long, with serious chewy minerality.