Montagny 1er Cru & Co, Laurent Cognard 2022

As with previous vintages there's a wonderfully pure, light-golden shimmer that glints in the light, drawing your gaze deep into the glass.

With the lightest swish, elegant aromas of orchard fruit, apricot, sweet, toasted almond and a faint hint of hazelnut waft gently from the glass, encased by a scent of fine herbaceous French oak.

There's a slight 'Chablisienne' hint of saline minerality to the nose too - certainly a rarity in a wine from Montagny but one that I have become accustomed to in Cognard's examples, it's subtler perhaps in this warmer 2022 vintage, than in 2021, but still joyously present.

The palate follows the aromas perfectly: the initial flavours are of delicate yellow peach and citrus fruit that evolve into a warming core of barrel-infused delight of toasted hazelnut, dried orchard fruit, elegant peach and apricot . Then, a finish that is marked with the emergence of a delicate slatey minerality, freshening the palate in tandem with a very, very delicate and smooth, creamy edge that expertly buffs out any sharp edges.

This vintage feels more rounded, slightly fuller-bodied and textured than the 2021 that preceded it, that's to be expected in a warmer year, it's a beautiful Burgundian symphony, offering the warmth, elegance and charm of Chassagne Montrachet a Chablisienne minerality and delicate, yet ripe, fruit character of the Côte Chalonnaise.

James  Russell-Grant | FromVineyardsDirect