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Viinin Kuvailu
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.
Wine Information
2005 Harvest
The making of a vintage is like a voyage, an adventure, whose final destination is unknown. Nature has its own, often capricious, rule. Our only skill is to learn, with humility, to adapt to it.
The fruit that we saw passing by on the sorting table during these eight days of harvest was the most beautiful we have seen since 1999. Who would have predicted this, after an excessively hot Spring and a cold and cloudy August, even though there was no rain ?
The drought conditions during the vegetative cycle of the vineyards and the North wind were among the main factors that « governed » the growing season of this 2005 vintage that can already be ranked among the great ones. The North Wind, dominant and even triumphant all during the year confirmed the adage which claims : « the wind that blows on Palm Sunday will be the wind of the year ». The North wind blew every day around Easter and kept on blowing throughout the year until today when, to our great satisfaction, the indomitable anticyclone is again chasing clouds away. After the glorious weather we experienced during the harvest, the Indian summer is setting in over Burgundy, making the vineyards shine with splendid colours through a light autumnal mist.
Rainy spells that are frequent in Burgundy during Spring and Summer have been inexistent except in April when the rain and warmth resulted in a rapid growth of vegetation. On May 4th, the Grands-Echezeaux and Echezeaux areas were hit by hail, which disturbed the vegetative growth of the vines for some time, but had no other effect than a slight reduction of the crop. Then, May, June and July brought a few light cloudbursts. There was hardly any rain in August and finally on September 7th, shortly before the harvest, the rain that fell was favourable as it accelerated ripening. Another characteristic of the year : rains were sporadic and varied according to the areas: on the same day, it might rain in the Côte de Nuits and not at all in the Côte de Beaune, it might rain twice as much on Echezeaux as on Romanée-Conti and vice versa. The worst happened in Santenay and Chassagne where violent hailstorms did much damage, but Puligny and Le Montrachet were spared.
In 2005 the vineyards proved once more that they like warm and dry conditions and that they do not require much water.
We experienced heat spells all along the year, but they were short and in fact the hydric stress of the vineyards, that was visible on the leaves and confirmed by measurements, was provoked by drought rather than by heat. These conditions are very different from what they were in 2003, more favourable, this year, to a balanced ripening of the grapes. In 2005 the vineyards never stopped feeding their grapes while in 2003 they sometimes had to in order to survive. Even though some very young vines and those planted in shallow soils lost their leaves very early and did not ripen their fruit properly, the greater part of Burgundy and in first place the grands crus have easily kept the necessary freshness despite dry conditions. It is obvious when you look at the leaves today.
When trying to compare 2005 with another vintage, we also thought of course of 1976, a legendary year of drought, but they have, in fact, nothing in common : 2005 was very dry but not as hot as 1976 and, most important, profited from a few precious rains. As previously written, vineyards need little water to give their best fruit.
Again, with such unusual climatic conditions, what did the vineyards do ?
The two principal stages of the vegetative cycle are flowering and veraison. Flowering started early and well on May 25th, but soon became slow and uneven under the influence of the drought, which greatly affected veraison and ripening. As a direct effect of this disturbed flowering, there was a lot of millerandage. We know that it is an essential factor to great quality.
Veraison began on August 5th, but as the drought and heat were an obstacle to photosynthesis, its progression was comparable to that of the flowering : slow and uneven. We already knew at that time that we would have to wait until the maturity of all the berries came into balance.
Our fine Pinot vineyards, as well as our cultivation and pruning methods tending towards the achievement of low yields fitted with this context. The vineyards resisted stress without suffering and from early September ripened their grapes very fast. At that time heat returned after an unusually cold August. The berry analysis we made showed progressions between 1 to 1°5 per week and the characteristics of the grapes appeared more clearly : thick skins of an intense black colour, little juice, a lot of millerandage, loose clusters, resistant to botrytis which in any case did not set in because of the lack of humidity. As soon as the analysis showed that the grapes had reached a potential of 13° in perfect sanitary conditions, we made the decision to begin the harvest. Rare indeed are the years when we can take advantage of such beautiful, dry, cool and clear weather. The selection that we asked, as usual, from the pickers was simple this year and as a consequence the harvest was exceptionally short : eliminate the very few grapes infected by botrytis, those which had dried after hail or burnt in the sun, and leave the few bigger grapes produced by vines of lesser finesse.
It was a rare pleasure for those who « inspect » at the sorting table and put the finishing touches to the pickers' work, to see, before the grapes went their way to the vats, how ripe and coloured they were, each of them being a perfect example of fine Pinot Noir.
The vineyards were harvested in the following order :
La Tâche ........................... September 15th, 16th & 17th
Romanée-Conti ................. September 15th & 16th
Richebourg ........................ September 17th & 18th
Grands-Echezeaux ............ September 18th & 19th
Echezeaux ......................... September 19th, 20th & 21st
Romanée-St-Vivant .......... September 21st, 22nd & 23rd
Yields reach an average of 28 to 30 hl/ha for the red wines. In other words, 2005 is quite satisfactory in quantity. Montrachet was harvested last, on September 23rd, with very high sugar content, beautiful acidity and low yield. It should be a great wine.
Fermentations were perfect, active, releasing an exceptional range of aromas.
Devattings are in progress. Wines, that are little by little put into barrels and lined up in the beautiful cellars of the Saint-Vivant winery, are black, show plenty of fruit, but are tannic as well. With usual precaution, since the wines are hardly finished, we can already say that it is a beautiful vintage both in red and white. Needless to say that the vigneron is happy, he feels that the vineyards, accompanied all through the year by very favourable weather conditions, have given their grapes all possible richness and that the "child" born from this effort can only be gifted with great talents !
Vuosikerta 2005
2005 VINTAGE in Burgundy / Hopes made way for certainty.
2005 promises to produce outstanding whites, with elegance and opulence beyond the norm, and superb, seductive and well-structured red wines.
The richness of these wines perfectly expresses the diversity of the region. A wine of excellent quality is achieved above all through the ripeness and healthiness of the grapes. For this reason, thanks to the almost ideal climatic conditions, 2005 will an exceptional year. At the point of harvest, the chardonnay and pinot noir grapes (the two principal grape varieties in Burgundy) were magnificent and luscious. The chardonnay produced resplendent golden grapes, bursting with sugar and the pinot noir produced densely packed grapes of an intense colour, characteristic of all great vintages. Due to low rainfall and weak northerly winds, the grapes remained in a remarkable state and did not require any sorting.
Under a radiant sun, the harvest passed by peacefully, giving the wine-growers the opportunity to assess the optimal maturity in relation to the grape varieties and parcels. The sugar content in the grapes reached above satisfactory levels, in some cases close to outstanding, which is a good indication of maturity, and promises a good balance between the acidity and sugar levels found in the wines
The red grapes' thick skin stored up large quantities of polyphenol (colour and tannin), a demonstration of their healthiness. Vinification took place in ideal circumstances.
Mid-november
The white wines, although still fermenting, already reveal an extraordinary richness and aromatic complexity with great finesse (notes of pear and peach with a hint of ripe grapefruits). On the palate, the wines are incredibly ample. The chewiness and acidity are in perfect harmony and enhance the elegance and freshness of the chardonnay.
The red wines possess deep and intense garnet-coloured robes. They exude intense aromas of fruit (blueberry, blackcurrants, cherries, wild strawberries) and variety of spices (pepper). On the palate, the fruit blends with the rounded elegance of the tannins and the light acidity, which all come together to ensure the length of the wine. The powerful and elegant structure of these wines is a sign of their good ageing potential. For the domaines, cooperatives and maisons of Burgundy, 2005 is without a doubt a vintage of exceptional quality which promises wonderful surprises for the consumer.
