2022 De L’Avant, Maison Maenad

I had tasted the 2020 Chardonnay from the Les Varrons lieu-dit in 2023 and was not very impressed, but a bottle of the 2022 De Lavant is a completely different animal. It is flinty and reductive, with the usual cloudy color and a palate full of energy, precise and balanced, tasty, characterful and with a long and almost salty finish. It comes in at 12% alcohol and does not show any heat or ripeness, despite the torrid vintage. Bravo!