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  • Country ranking ?

    548
  • Producer ranking ?

    18
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Salads

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The Story

The Montrachet family consists of grand five Grands Crus grown in the two villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. These two share the Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet appellations. Chevalier and Bienvenues belong to Puligny, Criots belongs to Chassagne. These Grands Crus are the most southerly of the Côte-d'Or, and lie between Meursault in the north and Santenay in the south. Their origins go back to the Middle Ages - the work of the Cistercian abbey of Maizières and the Lords of Chagny. The wines of Montrachet (pronounced Mon-rachay) came fully into their own in the 17th century. There is no argument : this is the finest expression of the Chardonnay grape anywhere on earth. The Grand Cru appellations date from 31 July, 1937.

 

The underlying rocks date from the Jurassic, 175 million years BC. Exposures lie to the east and the south. Altitudes: 265-290 metres (Chevalier) ; 250-270 metres (Montrachet) ; 240-250 metres (Bâtard, Bienvenues, Criots). In the " Climat " of Montrachet, the soils are thinnish and lie on hard limestone traversed by a band of reddish marl. In Chevalier, the soils are thin and stony rendzinas derived from marls and marly-limestones. In the Bâtard " climat " soils are brown limestone which are deeper and, at the foot of the slope, more clayey. 

 

The power and aromatic persistence of these lofty wines demands aristocratic and sophisticated dishes with complex textures : « pâté » made from fattened goose liver, of course, and caviar. Lobster, crawfish, and large wild prawns, with their powerful flavours and firm textures, pay well-deserved homage to the wine and match its opulence. Firm-fleshed white fish such as monkfish would be equally at home in their company. And let us not forget well-bred and well-fattened free-range poultry whose delicate flesh, with the addition of a cream-and-mushroom sauce, will be lapped up in the unctuous and noble texture of this wine. Even a simple piece of veal, fried or in sauce, would be raised to heavenly heights by the Montrachet's long and subtle acidity.

Serving temperature : 12 to 14 °C.

 

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Vintage 1989

1989 VINTAGE in Burgundy

Weather conditions were exceptional which led to a notably early harvest with perfectly ripened grapes in both colours. The reds with their velvety tannins have a fine colour, showing softer more elegant tendencies than the 88?s. They make a wonderful choice to drink on a special occasion. The whites in general were very precocious; ripe, powerful, rich, generous and well rounded; most should already have been drunk but the Grand Crus are superb for drinking now and over the next few years.

As regards the style of the 1989's, we now have one or two general impressions. The white wines are of great class. The Chardonnay in Burgundy has produced wines with ripe, powerful aromas and rich, generous body tending, in certain cases, almost to unctuosity. Initial comparisons have been drawn with 1971 and perhaps 1964.

The ripening of the Pinot Noir crop was somewhat hindered in several areas by unexpectedly large quantities of second generation grapes and extremely dry conditions. The resulting natural sugar levels were slightly lower than the recent yardstick year, 1985, but the fruit was in perfect condition. Overall quality will be good to very good.

The red wines have fine, deep colour and quite vinous, concentrated fruity aromas. They are well constituted and round and should be capable of ageing well. Initial comparisons have been drawn with 1966 and 1979.

In the Beaujolais, the Gamay has yielded powerful, fleshy wines lacking perhaps the charm of textbook Beaujolais. The wines are reminiscent of the 1978's.

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Written Notes

Ramonet Batard-Montrachet 1989 is a beast, all muscular power. Typically 1989, but maybe a bit out of balance, lacking a bit of freshness and seeming quite alcoholic at the finish. But there was another, bigger problem with this bottle, which has to do with the producer. Some say genius is never far away from madness, Ramonet’s wines seem to be the vinous equivalent of this statement. This wine showed from the moment of opening the bottle completely weird aromas that mixed in a difficult to understand way oxidation and reduction. As far as I can judge it, the reduction is caused by extensive stirring of the lees on barrel (batonnage), the oxidation by dangerously low sulphur levels. So the wine continued swinging from left to right in the glass, but never came to rest. Intellectually challenging, maybe, but it never got to being enjoyable, so it did leave me wondering what the purpose of it should be.
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Information

Origin

Beaune, Burgundy

Other wines from this producer

Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet

Bourgogne Chardonnay

Chassagne-Montrachet A.O.C

Chassagne-Montrachet "Boudriottes"

Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St-Jean

Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Caillerets"

Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Chaumees"

Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Ruchottes"

Chassagne-Montrachet "Morgeot"

Chassagne-Montrachet "Vergers"

Chevalier-Montrachet

Montrachet

Puligny-Montrachet

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canets

Puligny Montrachet Les Enseigneres

St Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly

St. Aubin 1er Cru Les Charmois

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