2020 BOUCHARD PERE ET FILS CHEVALIER MONTRACHET La Cabotte GRAND CRU MAGNUM

(93-95 points) The 2020 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru opens in the glass with notes of citrus oil, musky peach, tangerine, nutmeg and buttered popcorn. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, it's chiseled and penetrating, with a tightly wound core of fruit and a racy spine of acidity. As readers will remember, this bottling hails from the three terraces on the hillside above Bouchard's La Cabotte, their bottling from the latter—which abuts Montrachet itself—being more muscular and powerful, whereas this cuvée is finer-boned and more ethereal. Technical director Frédéric Weber and his team have realized another fine vintage chez Bouchard Père & Fils, beginning harvest on 19 August and sorting to remove dehydrated berries. The vineyards fared well despite a significant hydric deficit, testimony to viticulture that's among the best of the big houses; indeed, organic conversion is underway, and canopies are now hedged to 1.30 meters, around 30 centimeters higher than the classic low rognage that still predominates along the Côte—forward-thinking innovations that will no doubt find imitators in short order among other big players. In any case, the resulting wines have turned out beautifully, with alcohols in the region of 13% to 13.5% and lower pHs than in 2019. Vibrant, intensely colored and beautifully balanced, there are plenty of cuvées here that I'd be delighted to own. White wines chez Bouchard, readers should note, are bottled under DIAM closures. (WK) (1/2022) Wine Advocate