2019 Montrachet Grand Cru

Wine Details
Place of Origin

France

Montrachet

Burgundy

Color

White

Grape/Blend

Chardonnay

Reviews & Tasting Notes

00

Drinking Window

2024 - 2048

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

Benoît Riffault has fine-tuned this Puligny stalwart in recent years and imbued Sauzet’s wines with more mineralité and tension. “I think it’s a good vintage,” he told me as we embarked on our tasting of 2019s. “There is good concentration with body and acidity at the same time. The wines are balanced. It’s a small crop because of frost in the regional and village appellations plus it was so dry and hot. We didn’t have a lot of juice in the grapes, so we averaged 30hl/ha compared to 55hl/ha the previous year. We started the picking on 9 September. The fermentation was normal, the alcohol a little higher than usual, around 14.0° to 14.2° though that is not a problem for me if I have balance. It’s a characteristic of the vintage. The pH levels varied between 3.1 for the Hautes-Côtes up to 3.25 to La Garenne for example. But the most important thing is the tartaric level of acid, which was very high in 2019.” The dark horse amongst this range is a quite brilliant Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet that had the hubris to outflank both the three other Grand Crus, including the Montrachet. It is blessed with razor-sharp aromatics and enthralling tension from start to finish. Riffault himself could not disguise his satisfaction with this cuvée and I can taste exactly why. I asked whether altitude is playing a more significant role in governing quality given the warm summers. Riffault replied: “It could be better being higher up although on limestone areas it can speed up the maturity too much.” Among the wide range of Puligny-Montrachets, Les Combettes stood out and challenged the Grand Crus, plus I am always taken by their parcel in the lieu-dit of En Richard in Les Folatières.” But testament to the fine job Riffault is doing is the quality of entry-level wines, his Bourgogne Blanc one of the best that I encountered amongst many.