Chassagne Montrachet La Romanée, Paul Pillot 2017

The 2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanée is superb, unwinding in the glass with aromas of waxy lemon rind, green apple, crisp melon, tangerine, wet stones and a light framing of smoky reduction. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and satiny textured, with grand cru depth and dimension, superb concentration and bright balancing acids, concluding with a long, chalky finish. This is a magical La Romanée from Pillot!

A whiff of the exotic is present on the white peach, passion fruit and softly wooded nose. Like the Grand Montagne the mouth feel of the medium weight and overtly stony flavors is really quite fine while the lingering finish is so saline as to be almost salty. This beautiful effort will need to add more depth to merit the upper end of my projected range but the potential is here for that to occur.