Benjamin Leroux, Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Baudines, 2016

This is white Burgundy from one of the Cote de Beaune's great Chardonnay addresses, now showing the extra dimension that time gives fine Meursault and Chassagne. Les Baudines is a premier cru on Chassagne's upper mid-slope, planted to Chardonnay on reddish clay-limestone that lends the wine a firm, mineral cut. Benjamin Leroux, one of Burgundy's most admired growers, farms and vinifies with a light touch, and in 2016 the wine leans nutty and tightly wound, closer in feel to a Meursault than to plusher Chassagne. With a decade behind it, it's drinking beautifully now while keeping its tension and drive.