2017 Maranges Clos de la Boutière 1er Cru

Marc Bachelet looks so similar to his brother Alexandre that I cannot tell them apart. Maybe next time I will request name tags? Bachelet welcomed me to their winery in Dezize-lès-Maranges and gave me the lowdown on 2023. “We started the picking on September 5 for the whites and six days later for the reds. We picked from six o’clock to one in the afternoon. We used around the same proportion of whole bunch—about 30%, but it depends on the cuvée—whilst trying to use minimal SO2 during the vinification. This enhances the brightness of fruit. All wines are raised in 350-liter barrels. There were a lot of solids in 2023, but I found less reduction.” Readers will already be aware of my admiration for what the brothers have achieved at this address: wonderful wines with mineralité, terroir expression and flavor. Though they do not quite deliver the drive and ambition of their 2022s, the 2023s are going to deliver immense pleasure over the coming years.

Alexandre Bachelet greeted me at the winery in Maranges. Recent vintages have been a treasure trove of supremely well-crafted wines, both whites and reds, that have garnered a strong and loyal following. “I like the substance in the reds in 2022, though for the whites, the 2021 is more ‘tendu’ [tense]. We started the picking on August 25 with the whites and September 1 for the reds. After that, we changed between the white and red parcels. It was a classic vinification with yields around 40hL/ha up to 55hL/ha, alcohol levels around 12.8% to 13.2% for both colors.” Standouts here include a stunning Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières that must surely rank as one of the finest from that vineyard. It actually slipped past the Bâtard-Montrachet…it’s that good.

“We are missing some cuvées this year because of the frost. We have only two or three barrels of some Premier Crus. We lost around 60% of the volume. The candles saved some of the vines in Puligny-Montrachet. There were 13 treatments during the year - sometimes twice a week when it rained just after spraying. It was very complicated. We started the picking on 19 September in good conditions with good acidity levels. It was surprisingly homogeneous in terms of ripeness, considering the frost and difficult ripeness cycles. We de-leafed on 9 August to obtain the ripeness and mitigate against oïdium and mildew. The reds were cropped between 23-26hL/ha – it was a ‘demi-récolte’ and they underwent an eight- or nine-day cuvaison. We pressed for around 3.5 hours, longer and gentler than usual, and gradually reduced the amount of SO2, year by year. The fermentation was very rapid - just two weeks. We will probably bottle the reds a little earlier, at the end of the year and the whites next March.” It’s a depleted portfolio this year, with cuvées such as the Meursault Clos du Cromin, Pommard Chanlins and Saint-Aubin En Remilly succumbing to the frost and rot. Yet what survived sends tingles down the spine, not least a brilliant duo in the form of the Puligny Les Referts and Folatières, while the Maranges Les Fussières demonstrates what this oft-overlooked appellation can do in the right hands. Those right hands come a little better than Marc and Alexandre Bachelet.

Marc Bachelet greeted me at his winery in Dezizes-lès-Maranges on a crisp, sunny morning. He and his brother Alexandre have set the standard not just in Maranges, but perhaps in the Côte de Beaune, their wines triumphing in many a blind “Burgfest” tasting. Bachelet-Monnot is on fire at the moment. “There was no risk of frost in 2020,” Marc explained in their spartan tasting room. “Flowering went well. We picked from August 20, beginning with a couple of parcels in Puligny-Montrachet and Bourgogne Blanc, then on August 25 and 26 we attacked the Premier Crus. There were large differences in maturity between parcels because the ripening occurred in August rather than in September, when the sugar levels increase more rapidly. We picked the reds from August 27. The 2020s do not show the heat like in 2018, and the pH levels came in between 3.15 and 3.20. Everything will be bottled in spring according to the lunar calendar, using natural corks.” What can I say that I have not said before: This was a thrilling set of white and reds, the kind of wines where I want to order a couple of cases as soon as I have tasted it. I highly recommend the 2020 Maranges La Fussières 1er Cru Blanc. This fast-improving appellation can excel at whites even if it is better known for reds – talking of which, the 2020 Maranges Clos de la Boutière 1er Cru is an absolute killer. This year, I did not discern a huge gap in quality between the outstanding Puligny Premier Crus Les Referts and Folatières and the sought-after Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru. I’d love to have all three in my cellar.

Heading down to the village of Dezize-lès-Maranges always leaves me feeling happy because it means I am en route to meet Alexandre and Marc Bachelet and tasting their impressive whites and reds. Marc Bachelet escorted me through the 2019s and a number of 2018s. “We started picking on 6 September and finished on 20 September,” he told me. “Yields were around 42hl/ha for the reds and 30hl/ha for the whites, occasionally half the crop. The yields in Puligny-Montrachet were better. The low yields came because of the flowering and also since 2013 being organic. I guess it is the combination of different things over recent vintages. The whole bunches component on the red wines is selected from millerandé berries on the sorting table. We used around 25% for the 2018 red Premier Crus.” What can I say apart from every year these boys slam-dunk another raft of outstanding wines that brim with freshness and vigour. They have the knack. Their 2019 Bâtard-Montrachet is as good as any you will come across, but really what I love is how they elevate Maranges into something that exceeds all expectations, as demonstrated by a 2017 Maranges La Fussière I ordered from a restaurant list the following week.

My first visit during over five weeks of tasting was down in Maranges at Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, where Alexandre and Marc Bachelet have been on fire over recent vintages. They approach the vines organically but do not seek certification. "We used some whole bunch but adapted each cuvée to the amount desired," Marc Bachelet told me. "We had no problem with the dry conditions. We commenced picking on 28 August for the whites and the reds were picked from 3 until 8 September, keeping the yield around 40 to 45hl/ha. We use 20% new oak across the range and we were careful with pigeage in order not to over-extract. The malolactic was quite early, around mid-March instead of May/June. The wines were racked two weeks ago. With respect to the whites, I was worried that they were too heavy like the 2015s, but now very happy how they turned out."