The 2014 Chablis Butteaux 1er Cru from Domaine François Raveneau is drinking beautifully, even though I am fully aware of committing infanticide. It is one of my favorite vineyards ­– and in my view, an underrated one – from a benchmark Chablis growing season. A stunning, razor-sharp bouquet offers limestone and petrichor aromas, and hints of walnut and shucked oyster shells develop with aeration. That fresh marine influence translates into a palate that displays exquisite balance and just a hint of toffee apple, closing in slightly toward the finish. There is so much tension and grace here. Brilliant.

Crushed-rock minerality dominates grapefruit and menthol on the nose. Penetrating acidity gives this rather powerful wine a youthfully clenched quality, with its tactile grapefruit, white pepper and mineral flavors rather austere in the early going. Impressively large-scaled for premier cru but more backward than the Monteé de Tonnerre. The Raveneaus normally present their Butteaux before their Montée de Tonnerre but not in this vintage.

Oxidative edge, but so much incredible flavour beneath that! Nutty, oily, very dry and tight. Incredibly lengthy, finishing with plenty of persistence and profundity. (RH)