2022 Santenay Les Gravieres

The 2022 Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravières has turned out even better in bottle than anticipated and gets my nod as Vincent's finest white wine to date. As readers will remember, this cuvée derives exclusively from Vincent's high-density plantings at 17,000 vines per hectare, located at the northern end of this large premier cru, where the soils are richer in active calcium and better adapted to Chardonnay; and they're farmed with high canopies and all the usual attention to detail that readers can expect at this address. Today, the wine is showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass (in fact, I followed an open bottle over two days while writing this review) with aromas of crisp stone fruit, pear, white flowers, freshly baked bread and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's seamless, pristinely balanced and intensely flavored, with terrific depth at the core, ripe but racy acids and a long, penetrating finish. Readers are advised to forget this tour de force in the cellar for at least two or three years to experience all its potential.