2018 Meursault 1er Cru vs Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

The warm and sunny 2018 vintage has produced some spectacularly luscious wines whilst retaining sufficient freshness. The most impressive white wine I have tasted from 2018 was the Charlemagne from Domaine de la Vougeraie at the seriously awesome restaurant Above at Hide. Last weekend, to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, I popped the corks on a Meursault 1er Cru Les Ravelles from Chapelle de Blagny and a Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Frionnes from Domaine Hubert Lamy. This turned out to be a fascinating comparison. The Meursault expressed typical Meursault terroir: appealing and open on the nose, pear, ripe lemon, almond; good density on the palate with a nutty and buttery flavours. A real pleasure to imbibe. The Saint-Aubin 1er Cru was far fresher, more linear and dominated by green melon with touches of apple and lime. One had the sense of the wine-maker Olivier Lamy trying to put a lid on ripeness of 2018 and force it to mature over a longer time period. Conclusion: much more pleasure from the Meursault in 2022 but the Saint-Aubin will age longer and may become more complex.