The 2019 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses bursts from the glass with scents of orange oil, warm bread, crisp stone fruits and oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly textural and enveloping, yields of only 23 hectoliters per hectare mean that it's immensely concentrated, with racy acids and a long, pungently intense finish.

The 2019 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru comes across as a bit muted following Brocard's Les Preuses, yet it is well-defined with chai, lemon verbena and crushed stone scents that cohere nicely with aeration. The palate is well balanced with a lightly spiced entry and a fine thread of acidity. It gains weight toward the finish, which is quintessential Chablis. Excellent. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.

50–60% fermented in French oak barrels (aged 6 years on average). The remainder is vinified in small stainless-steel vats. Aged 14–15 months, of which 5 to 6 months on fine lees in French oak barrels for 50 to 60% of the harvest. The end of maturation occurs in small stainless-steel vats. Tank sample. Creamy citrus intensity, with just a bit of SO2 intruding on this young sample (samples need protection en route). There’s an oily spice too as well as Chablis’ hallmark stone dust. Powerful, with lots of ripe but tangy citrus fruit on the mid palate and both precision and intensity. Long and with good ageing potential. (JH)