2022 Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru Domaine Bachelet-Monnot

The 2022 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru sees no new oak in this vintage. Its crystalline bouquet offers citrus peel, wet limestone and light wild fennel scents that unfurl in the glass. Very intense. The palate is striking on the entry with its sharp acidity, fresh and marine-influenced, strict and uncompromising. It's a wine that could only come from Puligny. It refuses to fan out on the finish, terse and classic in style. I admire its refusal to appease - one for the most serious white Burgundy lovers.

(from a .1464-ha parcel on the Puligny side planted to the equivalent of a 15,000 vines per hectare density; the wine sees no new wood and is aged in 1 and 2-year-old 350-liter barrels). An exuberantly fresh nose freely offers up its array of citrus, white flower, spice and a more subtle dollop of oak. The rich, vibrant and succulent bigger-bodied flavors possess excellent mid-palate concentration while delivering first-rate length on the bitter lemon-inflected finale where the only nit is a touch of warmth. This is excellent but in contrast to the Folatières, a wine that’s going to need at least moderate patience.