Meeting the optimist expirations I established a year ago, the 2018 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre offers up aromas of lemon oil, freshly baked bread, crisp green apple, white flowers, wet stones and oyster jus. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, it's tensile and dynamic, with tangy acids, fine depth at the core and a long, sapid finish.

The 2018 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru is very tight, but it was also racked just prior to this tasting, and Montée de Tonnerre is naturally a site that yields intensely mineral wines. Bright citrus, mint, chalk and white pepper open up gradually in a brisk, focused wine that needs time to show at its best. The Fèvre Montée de Tonnerre is a blend of three climats: Pied d'Aloup (east-facing), Chapelot (south-facing) and Côte de Bréchain (west-facing, vines planted in 1936).

Complex aromas of chalk, dried apple and pear with some cream. It’s full-bodied and open now. Chalky at the finish. Lightly layered palate. Drink or hold.

The 2018 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru is austere and recalcitrant on the nose, missing the volume and presence of the Montmains. The palate is balanced but relatively simple compared to William Fevre’s other Premier Crus, just missing the same delineation and steeliness on the finish.

Smoky and a little reductive. Crisp and racy, with a streak of liquid stones. Taut and very young. Good enough length to develop. (TJ)