2020 Bachelet-Monnot Chassagne-Montrachet

Domaine Bachelet-Monnot is a family affair and, for Burgundy, a young one. It was started in 2005 by brothers Marc and Alexandre Bachelet, who created the 53-acre domaine from land owned by their father and uncle. The vineyards are in the Maranges, Santenay and Puligny-Montrachet communes. The wines earn ratings in the low to mid-90s from reviewers, many of whom call the brothers among the best of the newest generation of Burgundian vignerons. In 2017 the Wine Advocate’s reviewer described his tasting at the domaine like this: “It was another superb set of wines from the domaine right from the commendable Bourgogne Rouge up to the spine-tingling Bâtard-Montrachet …. I strongly suspect (these wines) will represent some of the best values over the entire of the Côte d’Or this vintage, and if I were a millionaire…I would still buy them.”

Chassagne-Montrachet is the appellation that covers the communes of Chassagne-Montrachet and Remigny, and it is the southern-most of the Côte d’Or’s three great white wine appellations of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. With 1,200 acres of vineyards, it is one of the largest appellations in the region, and more than half the vineyard acreage is Grand Cru or Premier Cru. The three famous Grand Crus are Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. There are also 16 main Premiers Crus, most of them considered very high quality, and village wines. One fact rarely noted is that historically the appellation produced more red than white wine. In the late 1990s the ratio of white to red wines changed, however, as more vineyards were converted from Pinot Noir to Chardonnay, a logical decision given the acclaim of the appellation’s whites. There are still intriguing red wines produced. Clive Coates wrote that the appellation’s white wines generally are “full and firm, more akin to Puligny than to the softer, rounder wines of Meursault.”

This white variety originated in Burgundy, but is now grown around the world. Its flexibility to thrive in many regions translates to wide flavor profile in the market. Chardonnay is commonly used in making Champagne and sparkling wines.