2022 Montrachet Grand Cru

Sauzet came close to being excluded from my report after the first appointment had to be rearranged, and a miscommunication led to my almost missing the second. Thankfully, I bumped into winemaker Benoît Riffault at La Paulée the previous day, realized something was amiss, and sorted everything out. “The growing season was not too difficult without too much stress,” Riffault tells me in a new tasting room whose huge oval window affords a splendid view across Puligny towards Les Pucelles. “But I needed to be careful with my Puligny Village as the sugar level goes up more quickly towards the end compared to the Premier Crus, which has a steadier accumulation. I started the harvest on August 24. The idea was to pick a bit earlier than 2020, where maybe I had a small mistake in terms of alcohol levels. [In 2022] I wanted to capture more freshness. The vinification was normal; the Premier Crus aged in between 15% and 25% new oak using foudres for the entry-level cuvées and 350-liter barrels used in some wines. The wines will be bottled from January onwards.” This was a very fine set of 2022s from Sauzet, despite losing his Chevalier-Montrachet after Bouchard Père & Fils stopped selling fruit. My pick would be his Puligny-Montrachet Les Truffières and Les Combettes. The Montrachet is outstanding, and for those whose wallets don’t stretch that far, check out his Puligny-Montrachet Sous le Puits.