From the warm, riper, but ultimately still cool-climate vintage of 2018, Le Grand Clos Chardonnay is a rich and seamless barrel-fermented Chardonnay. Remembering to taste this 'Grand Vin' just a little warmer than one might with other white varietals, one sees the complexity of the Chardonnay grape at its best through the terroir of the dolomitic limestone soils it is grown upon.

A clutch of classic stone fruit is underlaid by subtle, high-toned, racy, elegant tones of more exotic fruit such as melons and papayas that underline the intensity of the Summer the fruit was grown. Seamless lacy lanolin tones, with the barrel ferment barely visible through the intoxicating spiciness of the nose. Perhaps also a whiff of white floral mintyness.

Full in the mouth with beeswax and creamy lightly-truffled lanolin overtones, with no obvious wood contribution, the tightrope walk of rich, bracing acidity and minerality of this wine baffles the senses. It expresses the tight minerality of the Grand Clos Block in an entirely different, fascinating way. With greater vine age, we sense even greater delicacy, and yet, confoundingly, a greater weight that will certainly grow up around the wine in bottle.