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  • Country ranking ?

    1 203
  • Producer ranking ?

    52
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Chorizo & Sweet Potato Risotto

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Vineyard Profile

Vinification Long, gentle pneumatic pressing, “débourbage,” or “settling of the juice,” over 24 hours; then racking and running the must into cask. Alcoholic fermentation in oak casks, 18% new (maximum 1/2 Vosges, minimum 1/2 allier) Matured 12 months in cask, then aged 6 months in tank and prepared for bottling. Homeopathic fining and very light filtering, if necessary

Size: 4.64 hectares (11.47 acres)
Les Brelances: 32 ouvrées (3.38 acres), planted in 1966 and 2003
Les Grands Champs: 8 ouvrées (0.85 acre), planted in 1990
Les Nosroyes: 8 ouvrées (0.85 acre), planted in 1967
Les Reuchaux: 8 ouvrées (0.85 acre), planted in 1989
La Rue aux Vaches: 8 ouvrées (0.85 acre), planted in 1963
Les Tremblots: 40 ouvrées (4.23 acres), planted in 1955,1970,1972,1979 and 1982
Les Houlières: 4.5 ouvrées (0.48 acre), planted in 1980

Appellation: Burgundy

Location: Seven parcels in Puligny-Montrachet

Cultivation: 100% biodynamic

Soil: Calcareous clay

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Wine Information

The 2010 Vintage: Puligny-Montrachet

The 2009-2010 winter was classic overall, but it was marked by a brutal phenomenon on December 19: a staggering drop in temperature to -20°C (-4°F), then rising to 10°C (50°F) on December 21. January and February had seasonal weather, with the last frosts occurring between March 9-14.

April, mild and dry, saw the start of the vegetative cycle, with the chillier month of May marking a slowdown in the growth of the vines. The first vine flowers were observed on June 6, with full flowering by June 12-14, finishing around June 22. High temperatures continued until mid-July, when a cool and damp spell set in which lasted until the end of August.

The weather warmed up again at the beginning of September, while a hailstorm on September 12 touched the vineyards in Santenay. In Puligny, the ripest grapes developed a bit of botrytis at that time. The harvest, initially set for September 20, was advanced to September 17. Harvest lasted one week and enjoyed a spell of fine, dry weather up to the very last day.

The musts are showing good balance, with alcoholic fermentations occurring normally. Malolactic fermentation is taking place more slowly, revealing well-defined wines with lovely purity.

The 2010 vintage can be appreciated at the earliest as follows:
Bourgogne Blanc beginning in 2013
Puligny-Montrachet beginning in 2014
Premiers Crus beginning in 2015
Grand Crus beginning in 2017
Montrachet beginning in 2021

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Vintage 2010

THE 2010 BURGUNDY VINTAGE 

Compared with 2009, these figures represent a deficit of 25 percent in red and 16 percent in white.

It was a cold, drawn-out winter, some two degrees cooler than the average, though rainfall and sunshine were normal. There was one severe attack of frost on December 22nd, just before Christmas, which caused widespread damage on the upside of the main road from Beaune to Dijon. In many places the road is on higher ground, and the land dips before climbing up towards the premiers crus, thus causing a frost pocket. It is here, just as in 1985, that the damage has been done. Some vines have been killed outright; others managed a late push of vegetation which was either unproductive or far to late to be useful. This, and further depredations later in the season, have led to a crop some 25 percent less than the average (which is some 250,000 hectolitres, excluding generics, for the Côte d'Or).

 

Apart from a brief interlude in April the cold climatic pattern persisted right through until June 22nd. The vines flowered late and irregularly. Coulure and millerandage were widespread. There were isolated attacks of mildew. Conditions were the opposite of promising. The harvest would be late and maturity would be uneven unless there were to be a dramatic improvement in the weather.

Happily Burgundy then enjoyed a fine, even hot, period of several weeks until July 21st. The downside was that there were, inevitably, the usual storms, and in places, hail damage. On July 10th parts of northern Beaujolais and the southern Mâconnais were affected: Moulin à Vent, Saint-Amour, Leynes, Chaintré, Pouilly-Vinzelles, and the village of Fuissé. There was hail in some of the left bank vineyards in Chablis, especially in Vaillons. But the Côte d'Or and the Chalonnais seem to have been spared.

The weather in August was uneven; nice and warm, but with no lack of rain. We had oidium, here and there, and black rot elsewhere, in vineyards not properly looked after, especially in southern Burgundy and parts of Meursault. Together with the hail this has resulted in uneven quality in the Mâconnais, while further north the vintage is much more consistent.

 

Once into September the weather changed again. The wind changed to the north. It began to be much cooler during the night. Most days were dry and warm (though not hot – 25° maximum) but above all very sunny. It is sun, rather than heat, which ripens the fruit. Photosynthesis was able to continue right to the end, as the vegetation remained green. Acidities did not plunge; while the grapes continued to pile on sugar. Except where there had been prior hail or cryptogamic damage the fruit remained very healthy.

Apart from a few gloomy days around Tuesday September 7th, and a brief tempest in the evening of the 12th, which occasioned hail damage in Santenay and the southern end of Chassagne-Montrachet, the fine weather continued until Friday September 24th, by which time everyone was into their harvest. Picking began across Burgundy at more or less the same time: the 16th in the Beaujolais, the 18th in the Mâconnais, the 20th in the Côte Chalonnaise, the Côte d'Or and Chablis, though some waited until the 23rd. Following a pause on the 24th the good conditions continued with but brief stoppages for what turned out to be showers rather than more prolonged periods of rain. Most growers had finished by the week-end of October 1st.

 

All reports underline the same conclusion about the 2010 harvest. It has turned out a great deal better than one could possibly have imagined at the end of June. If only it had been drier in August! Not that August was wetter than the average, indeed in southern Burgundy precipitation was the same as in 2009.

The Beaujolais are not as abundantly seductive as in 2009, but they are perhaps more classic. The fruit is fresh and delicious. The crop is small and quality is less even than in it was in the previous vintage. The wines are in their prime now.

Quality in part of the Mâconnais has been compromised by the July 10th hail. It is here that the 2010 vintage is at its most heterogenous. But nevertheless, where the fruit has been correctly sorted, we have a combination of good fruit, correct levels of alcohol, nice supporting acidity and no lack of character. The best are delicious now.

Growers in the Côte Chalonnaise are very happy, especially with their red wines. 'That makes three highly successful vintages in a row.' said one, adding that the crop was saved by the anti-rot treatments he had had to apply. Again the whites are fully ready and drinking very well.

 

As elsewhere a small crop in Chablis, as much through a lack of juice in the grapes as to the size of the crop. Good alcoholic dregees – indeed more in the premiers crus than in the grands crus – healthy fruit and nice austere acIdities.

Which brings us to the Côte d'Or. Once again not a lot of juice, owing to widespread millerandage, but more concentration as a result. The red wines showed very good fruit and the grapes were in a very good state of health. Alcohol and acidity levels are more than satisfactory, as are the initial colours. So if the red wines were not as glorious at the outset as in 2009, they were certainly very good, above the current average. And as they developed they seemed to get better and better. The character is more classic than in 2009 and the wines will probably last longer. This was not a vintage to go heavy on the extraction, particularly in communes such as Volnay and Chambolle. That aside, these red wines are consistent; in the Côte de Beaune said to be at their best in Pommard; while the quality in the Côte de Nuits was noted as 'très joli'. Indeed the more you travel north, as is so often the case, the better the wine. The Côte de Nuits benefited not only from a slightly later harvest, but from lower precipitation in August. It is here that the 2010 vintage is at its finest. It is a vintage which shows the  petits fruits rouges flavours of a medium weight, ripe, but not that concentrated a vintage. The wines are more marked by their terroir than in 2009, according to Aubert de Villaine.

 

It was more difficult in the early days to pronounce on the whites than on the reds. One wine-maker spoke about 'explosive' aromas, on the side of the exotic, and colours which were less deep than he feared. There are good acidities, but the vintage will be less classic than the 2008s in his opinion. I'm not sure that I agree. Now that the wines are in bottle one can see in the very best wines a striking success: the grip of the 2008s and the richness of the 2009s. That said, it must be pointed out that the storm of September 12th 'turned' much of the Chardonnay fruit. If one did not pick immediatedly, one's wine was comprimised. The result is a heterogenity between the village and minor premiers crus on the one hand and the wines from the better-sited vineyards, not to mention the grands crus, on the other. This is clearly apparent in the wines of Chassagne-Montrachet: wines of only average quality, and many showing too much botrytis, in Morgeots and the vineyards on the north side of the village, such as Chenevottes, Macharelles and Vergers, but fine wines from the slope which runs from Caillerets down to Embazées. Of the three main villages, Puligny and Meursault are better than Chassagne. Proportionately the higher one goes up the hierarchy, the better the wine. At the very top levels there are many white wines which, as they should, promise to be still improving after the age of five, rather than, as seems to be more and more the norm, depressingly, by that time beginning to lighten up. Overall – and there are a few wines which already hint at premature oxidation - this is clearly a better white wine vintage than 2009. And firmer than 2008.

 

Prices rose, but not by much. Growers were already aware of the deficit in quantity when they announced their 2009 prices, so a gentle shading upwards (I speak in Euros), was the order of the day, except that the elastic between the village wines and the less fashionable premiers crus on the one hand, and the grands crus and top village premiers crus on the other, continues to widen. You will pay increasingly higher prices for Richebourg, Puligny-Montrachet, Les Folatières and Vosne-Romanée, Les Beaumonts, while Savigny-Lès-Beaune, premier cru and Paul Jacqueson's Rully, La Pucelles remain a bargain.

by Clive Coates

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Tasting note

ending

Long, Extensive and Flavorful

nose

Intense and Fresh

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Good texture, Full-bodied, Round, Harmonious and Fruity

Verdict

Transparent and Sophisticated

Written Notes

Pale lemon yellow. Apples, minerals, smokey, citrus and light butter note nose. Fresh acidity, fresh and fruity, elegant, rounded, lively, very mineral finish, long. 91

  • 91p
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Information

Origin

Beaune, Burgundy

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Glass time

1h

Other wines from this producer

Bâtard-Montrachet

Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet

Bourgogne Blanc

Chevalier-Montrachet

Corton-Charlemagne

Montrachet

Puligny Montrachet

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes

Puligny-Montrachet, Clavoillon 1er Cru

Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres

Puligny-Montrachet Pucelles

Inside Information

Puligny-Montrachet, along with Chassagne, is the most perfect expression of the Chardonnay grape. The appellation was created in 1937 on « terroirs » separated by only a few metres from the Grands Crus. The white wines have well-defined personalities and an established reputation. The plots which adjoin the hamlet of Blagny produce an excellent red wine from the Pinot Noir grape.

The vines in many cases occupy brown limestone soils, or soils where limestone alternates with marls and limey-clays. Soils are deep in some places. In others, the rock is exposed at the surface. Where there are clayey alluvia, these are coarser higher up and finer at the foot of the slope. Exposures east and south east. Altitudes : 230-320 metres. 

White: this wine is a bright gold colour with greenish highlights, becoming more intense with age. The bouquet brings together hawthorn blossoms, ripe grapes, marzipan, hazelnut, amber, lemon-grass and green apple. Milky (butter, hot croissant) and mineral aromas (flint) are commonplace, as is honey. Body and bouquet blend into a subtle harmony. This wine combines grace with a welldefined character and a remarkable concentration.

 

Red: the red wine is bright ruby when young, darkening with age. Its bouquet is divided between small red fruits (raspberry gooseberry) and black fruits (blackcurrant blackberry) later shifting towards leather, musk and fur. Tender and well-fruited, it is well put-together and does well with several years' aging.

White: Puligny-Montrachet and its Premiers Crus are concentrated and well-bred. Their balance, aromatic complexity, and purified style demand delicate but rich food. They are equally at home with poultry in sauce or veal fried with mushrooms. Their great distinction elicits a grateful response from fattened goose liver (foie gras), lobster, crawfish, and grilled or fried sea-fish. On the cheese-board, its natural allies are goat cheeses, Reblochon, or soft-centred cheeses like Brie de Meaux.Serving temperature: 11 to 13 °C

Red: its opulent and fleshy structure will lend lusciousness and fullness to veal, pork, and roast fowl, as well as to hard cheeses like Comté.
Serving temperature: 14 to 16 °C

 

 

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