2017 Montrachet Grand Cru Henri Boillot Magnum

The 2017 Montrachet Grand Cru is among the most reserved wines in the cellar, unfurling in the glass with a reticent bouquet of crisp orchard fruit, white flowers and light reduction that wasn't revealing its full range when I tasted it. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and concentrated, with broad shoulders and evident power, concluding with a stony finish, but the full extent of its quality is hard to read.

Pale yellow. Wonderfully delicate and discreet on the nose, hinting at lemon drop and minerals; Boillot says he's normally the first to harvest in Montrachet and this wine certainly conveys an early-picked aspect. Pure and silky on the palate and thicker than the Chevalier-Montrachet, but with terrific inner-mouth cut. Displays impeccable balance on the very suave, slowly rising finish. Can a wine be both understated and explosive? "Two thousand seventeen is a real fruit year," says Boillot, and in fact this citrussy, floral Montrachet is not yet showing the site's iodiney minerality. But that will come.

A brooding yet softly perfumed nose is comprised of a variety of green fruit, citrus zest, spice, tangerine and an admirably deft dollop of oak. The highly complex, mouth coating and borderline chalky broad-shouldered and muscular flavors possess excellent concentration that coats the palate on the stony, compact and very firm finish. This is like a block of stone at present and like the Chevalier, it is a 'buy and forget' wine destined for a very long life. 97/2032+

A brooding yet softly perfumed nose is comprised of a variety of green fruit, citrus zest, spice, tangerine and an admirably deft dollop of oak. The highly complex, mouth coating and borderline chalky broad-shouldered and muscular flavors possess excellent concentration that coats the palate on the stony, compact and very firm finish. This is like a block of stone at present and like the Chevalier, it is a 'buy and forget' wine destined for a very long life. 97/2032+