Château de la Maltroye is a family-owned estate in Chassagne-Montrachet with an impressive range of village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru white wine holdings across the appellation, producing wines in a style that combines natural fermentation, restrained new oak and extended lees ageing to allow the individual character of each vineyard to express itself with clarity. La Dent de Chien is one of Chassagne-Montrachet’s most distinctively named Premier Cru vineyards, situated on the upper slope of the Chassagne hill adjacent to Le Montrachet itself, with thin, stony limestone soils of exceptional drainage and mineral purity that produce Chardonnay of unusual precision, tension and mineral depth. The vineyard takes its name from the characteristic sharp-pointed limestone fragments that emerge through the soil and give this particular parcel its instantly recognisable appearance. Wine from La Dent de Chien is considered among the most mineral and structurally precise Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru expressions, with a profile that approaches the linear austerity of Puligny-Montrachet rather than the more generous, rounded character of some lower-slope Chassagne sites.

The 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet white wine vintage was warm and produced wines of excellent concentration and aromatic richness that should be approachable in their early years while retaining enough natural acidity and structural depth for medium-term development. For La Dent de Chien specifically, whose naturally thin, limestone-dominant soils provide excellent natural freshness even in warm vintages, the 2022 should strike an ideal balance between the concentration that the vintage’s warmth provided and the mineral precision that this exceptional Premier Cru site always delivers in quality producers’ hands.

La Dent de Chien from a quality-focused Chassagne family domaine represents a compelling case for Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru at its most mineral and precise, from a producer whose longstanding relationship with this vineyard and whose restrained, transparency-focused winemaking provides the ideal conditions for the site to speak clearly. For collectors who seek Chassagne white at the level of quality usually associated with the finest Puligny Premier Crus, this is an outstanding and honest proposition.

Pale gold with a focused and stony nose of lemon curd, green apple, chalk mineral, flint and a restrained floral note from the La Dent de Chien limestone soils. Medium to full-bodied with excellent natural acidity, fine mineral tension and a very long, linear, mineral finish of genuine Premier Cru precision and depth. Best from 2025 through 2036.