Les Chétillons is the Le Montrachet of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, one of the finest sites for sparkling winegrowing in Champagne, indeed, anywhere on earth. This is one of the most minerally expressive wines I have ever tasted in Champagne. It’s
tremendously full-bodied, powerful and concentrated with pure lemon fruit, orange zest, stonefruits, cloves and cinnamon and yet its salty, chalky minerality rises like a tidal wave above it all, filling the mouth with strength and texture but at every moment extremely fine, silky and caressing. This infuses the palate with focused linearity and an inherent internal harmony that laces everything together with gripping persistence. To achieve such fruit concentration and mineral expression in a season as high-yielding as this only adds to the intrigue of what is the greatest expression of 2004 I have tasted yet.