2011 Le Montrachet

(aging in a single new 300-liter barrel): Iodine, spices and smoky oak on the nose, with a peach quality emerging with air. Dense, sweet and broad, with sexy minerality and musky smokiness. Large-scaled but not heavy. Lower in pitch than the Chevalier and not quite as long on the dry, firm finish. But this is much harder to taste today owing to the strong oak element.

I can think of no better way to describe the nose of the 2011 Montrachet than the word kaleidoscopic as the range of aromas is hugely broad and hugely complex. There is noticeable wood to the mildly exotic nose but the density of material is such that I have no particular concern that it will not be rapidly absorbed with a year or two in bottle. There is simply terrific power and muscle to the wonderfully concentrated flavors that culminate in an impressively vibrant, well-detailed and explosively long finish. In the same fashion as the Chevalier, this is a 2011 that will repay long-term cellaring. In a word, remarkable.Tasted: Jun 11, 2013. Drink: 2023+