Aromas of crisp green orchard fruit, pastry cream, orange oil, nutmeg and white flowers introduce the 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive wine that's taut and mineral, with chalky structuring extract and a saline finish.

The 2018 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains confirms its fine showing in 2019, opening in the glass with notes of crisp green apple, mint and freshly baked bread, framed by a light touch of reduction. Medium to full-bodied, dainty and layered, with chalky grip and bright acids, it's one of the high points of the portfolio.

Aromas of pear and white currants mingling with notes of almond paste, vanilla pod and creamy new oak introduce the 2017 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered wine that's quite dense, tightly wound and blocky, underpinned by racy acids—much as it was 12 months ago.

Revisiting the 2016 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains, I found it drinking well, offering up the same aromas of white peach, mandarin oil and Meyer lemon that it showed a year ago, today complemented by suggestions of dried white flowers and lanolin. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, bright and incisive, with a fleshy core of fruit, tangy acids and an attractively pure, precise finish. While I suspect that this will develop more exotic overtones with further bottle age, it's an undeniable success in this challenging vintage.

The 2015 Chablis 1Er Cru Montmains has a strict and linear, marine-influenced bouquet that manages to overcome the warmth of the growing season and deliver more terroir than some of the other premier crus. The palate is fresh and vibrant with a fine bead of acidity, quite earthy in style with an appreciable sense of tension and good grip on the finish. There is something "rootsy" about this Chablis and it should age with style. This has the edge of the C?te de Léchet and the Vaillons Vieille Vignes.