Bouchard Père & Fils : Montrachet Grand cru Domaine 2018

Sumptuous and dramatic, Bouchard's 2018 Montrachet Grand Cru bursts with aromas of honeyed peaches, toasted nuts, white flowers, orange oil and fresh bread. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, it's satiny and gourmand, with lively acids and a rich, expansive finish. If this year's Cabotte is more tightly wound and incisive, the Montrachet is irresistible for its power and scale.

Bouchard Père has a substantial 0.9ha holding of the Grand Cru on a slope on the Puligny-Montrachet side. This is certainly at the riper end of the scale in 2018, but the class and poise of the terroir shine through, with orange zest and lemon tart flavours, plenty of extract and concentration, and a frame of aromatic, vanilla-spiced oak.

The finish is what really makes this the great grand cru that it is. It’s full-bodied, yet so tight and compressed with a very dense center palate. Compact and solid with a superb core of fruit. So much dried-apple, cream, nougat, stone and mineral character. Some white truffle, too. It’s tight and very, very long. The creamy, phenolic texture melts into the wine. Drinkable now, but needs three to four years to open. Try after 2023.

Naughty heavy bottle. Manages to dance on the head of a pin: an extra dimension of weight and density without being heavy, hot or flat. White peach, hazelnut, citrus and stones. Great length. (TJ)

The 2018 Montrachet Grand Cru has a sensual bouquet with white peach and almond. Touches of orange blossom come through with time, but I would never describe it as a mineral-driven Montrachet. The palate is well balanced with fine acidity, quite taut with a chalky finish. Fine, though it doesn't take you to heaven and it begins to fade in the glass. Is that what you want from a Montrachet? I thought so. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 white tasting.

Admirable finesse and an almost ideal balance, with no sense of dilution (a frequent issue even in grand cru in this vintage), showcasing all the purity of style of the house’s current winemaking, with a great future ahead. The best Montrachet of our tastings.