The 2013 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche was picked October 1-5 and sees 16 months in oak. Véronique had four cuvées to choose from to select the final blend. There is a touch of fennel on the nose that opens beautifully in the glass. The palate is spicy and vibrant on the entry and then it tapers in toward the finish, as if it had just remembered its status. Perhaps this "lapse of memory" will be addressed by the time of bottling and/or with bottling age, but I must confess that at this early juncture, I find that Corton-Charlemagne has more potential. But let's see if it has a surprise in store.

(from a blend of parcels picked during the first five days of October): Pale bright yellow. Peach, pear, tangerine peel and stony, iodiney minerality on the captivating nose. Dense, extremely young and penetrating, with a touch of youthful austerity and strong acidity to the peach and stony mineral flavors. More floral, elegant and fine-grained than the Batard. Best today on the long, stony, rising finish. Drouhin farms these vines and chooses the harvest dates.

Like many of the Drouhin 2013s the big-bodied and imposingly powerful flavors possess a seductively opulent texture while coating the palate on the long, powerful, complex and intense finale. This is a bold and muscular Montrachet but despite the impressive size, weight and punch, it carefully avoids any sense of being top heavy or ponderous and it should handsomely reward 10 to 12 years of cellaring.

Cask sample. 2 ha owned by Laguiche, from the north downwards. Three parcels harvested 1-5 October. Small yield – one of the vineyards always has millerandage and one vineyard was pulled out to be replanted.   Fabulously complex nose. Crisp power, intensity without breadth. Steely stony minerality. Mouthwateringly dry and electric freshness. Eyewatering finish and amazing persistence. Pure and precise. (JH)