Montrachet, Domaine des Comtes Lafon 2022

The 2022 Montrachet Grand Cru is matured in just over 50% new oak for the first 12 months and in used barrels for the remaining nine months. The captivating bouquet has intense aromas of Golden Delicious, grilled almond, crushed limestone, and just a faint touch of saffron. The palate is medium-bodied with wonderful balance, hints of white chocolate and wild peach infusing Clementine and lemon notes. Very cohesive, with an enormously persistent tail on the finish. Majestic. (Drink between 2027-2060)

This wine is among the greatest whites in Burgundy in 2022 (as is often the case), with a profusion of ripe tropical fruit, nectarine and peach aromas, accents of butter, soft white blossoms and spice. The texture is rich with extract and dense, yet there is lively acidity to balance the aromas and flavours perfectly through to a dynamic finish. Fortunately, the yield of this 0.33ha plot was 6.5 barrels in 2022, although Lafon will wait several years to bring it to market. Organic. (Drink between 2028-2070)

Like the Perrières and the Charmes, the nose is exceptionally restrained and requires aggressively swirling to eventually coax a complex range of white fleshed-fruit, citrus, floral and spice aromas to reveal themselves. The very rich, full-bodied and imposingly concentrated flavors possess a gorgeous and highly sophisticated mouthfeel thanks to abundant dry extract that buffers a firm core of citrus-tinged acidity on the beautifully persistent and palate staining finish. This beauty of a Montrachet should amply reward up to two decades of keeping yet is a wine that could reasonably be approached after 10 to 12 years. Stunning. (Drink starting 2034)

Lafon's 2022 Montrachet Grand Cru is brilliant, wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, orange oil, white flowers, toasted nuts, honeycomb and nutmeg, followed by a full-bodied, rich and layered palate that's concentrated and suave, with lively animating acids and a long, penetrating finish.