Domaine Leflaive, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 2023

Leflaive's 2023 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru is a great success, unwinding in the glass with a nuanced bouquet of white flowers, crisp orchard fruit, clear honey, toasted hazelnuts and wet stones. Full-bodied, satiny and suave, it's pure and racy, with compelling mid-palate amplitude, beautiful textural refinement and a long, chalky finish. Its ethereal, elegant style makes it a study in contrasts with the muscular, powerful Bâtard.

The 2023 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru has a tightly wound bouquet despite my giving it five to ten minutes to open up. With hints of sunflower seed and crushed limestone, this is a real clenched fist aromatically. The palate is very well balanced with intense yellow and white fruit, less minerally than the Bâtard perhaps with just a hint of wild honey on the finish. It is a lovely wine…but could this be a year where Bâtard takes the glory?