2012 Chevalier Montrachet
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2012 tasting in Beaune. I must have severely under-estimated the 2012 Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru from Philippe Colin for it put in a stellar performance in blind conditions. It has a quite brilliant bouquet that is beautifully defined, subtle flint and dandelion, stunning focus and tension. The palate is extremely well balanced with just the right amount of bitter lemon that is lending nervosité throughout this wine. It is nuanced and subtle, gradually building in intensity towards a compelling saline finish that will urge you take another sip. This is fabulous and my score stands corrected.
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Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(13.9% alcohol): Bright yellow. Rather exotic nose offers scents of pineapple, peach, lime, licorice and lichee. Large-scaled, rich and superconcentrated, conveying an impression of sweetness to its thick stone fruit and spice flavors. Really pronounced sucrosite here for a wine that finished with less than one gram per liter of residual sugar. At once plusher, richer and more refined than the Demoiselles, but in need of a few years in bottle to absorb some of its spicy oak.
(13.5% natural alcohol; two of the four barriques are new): Good bright yellow. Sexy, expressive aromas of peach and apricot flesh and clove oil, plus a liqueur-like suggestion of mirabelle. Very ripe and a bit youthfully aggressive but tighter today than the Demoiselles and showing more spicy oak. Really saturates the mouth and vibrates on the aftertaste, finishing with a whiplash of stone fruit flavor. Colin told me he may fine this wine lightly and that, like the Demoiselles, it's unlikely to be racked until December, after which it will spend another three months in cuve.