Initially, this is a richly ripe wine with tropical fruit flavors. It also has an immense sense of structure that supports the fruit impressively. It’s dense, concentrated, exuding power and solidity, while always keeping a sense of elegance. Drink from 2018.

This is also ultra-pure and very cool with its essence of white flowers, citrus, green apple, pear and mineral reduction scents. There is outstanding verve and cut to the driving, concentrated and wonderfully intense middle weight flavors that seem to be extracted directly from liquid rock. The saline-infused finish is relatively dry but not especially austere and reflects well the naturally refined and classy mouth feel of a classic Chevalier. While there is no noticeable qualitative difference between this and the Corton-Charlemagne, I prefer the elegance and refinement of the Chevalier.

Closed off in its aroma, this is all about textural pleasures for now, sleeping in silk sheets. Even with air, the flavors remain at a distance, hinting at pear and meadow grasses. A day later, the spice of the wine’s oak comes up, its potent savor holding the fruit at bay. The wine’s elegance and delicate strength is apparent, and while this may not be the longest lived vintage of Bouchard’s Chevalier, it should offer compelling drinking in three or four years.