The 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers is showing very nicely, wafting from the glass with scents of citrus oil, nutmeg, white flowers and crisp orchard fruit. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly satiny and incisive, its textural attack segues into an ample mid-palate underpinned by brisk acids, concluding with a delicately saline finish. This is one of the highlights of the portfolio this year.

The 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers has a simple and anonymous bouquet, with light mown-grass aromas, that do not get out of second gear. The palate offers light citric fruit on the entry, but feels attenuated and dry on the finish. Drink now. When I began my Burgundy odyssey, I used to drink a lot of Domaine Guy Amiot’s wines. However, in recent years, I must confess that I encountered a number of bottles that appear to suffer premature oxidation from around 2006 or 2007 onward. Given the chance to reacquaint myself with the 2011s, I wanted to see how the wines are performing and to be honest I still found the wine too advanced given their youth and contrasted with other 2011s. It is always a shame when a grower that formed the basis of my understanding of the region does not replicate those formative experiences, but I hope that the wines can improve in the future. Importer; Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524