Nestled side by side just south the city of Beaune, three neighboring towns represent the crown jewels of White Burgundy: Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Meursault. This trio produces the finest whites in Burgundy, which most consider the greatest white wines in the world.
The three towns stretch only 6 miles from end to end, but their individual characters are distinct. Meursault produces rich, lush wines with dense mouthfeel and notes of pears and wildflowers. Puligny-Montrachet is known for its tension-filled, angular wines, showing structure and precision in their youth. The wines of Chassagne-Montrachet are the most approachable young, with baked lemon bouquets, and full, firm mouthfeel.
All three are elegant wines representing the pinnacle of chardonnay. We usually write about only one at a time, but today’s collection is a chance to pick up all three.
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Roger Belland and his daughter Julie are the 5th and 6th generation working the family domaine. Their flagship wine is the “Clos Pitois,” a premier cru monopole from Chassagne-Montrachet, first planted in 1421. The 2014 from this vineyard is beautiful and already drinkable, showing soft lemon, hazelnut, and a dense richness.
Vincent Boyer is the talented, thirtysomething winemaker at the Domaine Boyer-Martenot. He has had the reins of his family’s domaine for less than a decade, but the secret is getting out. We were blown away by Boyer’s 2013s, and we weren’t alone; the seldom effusive Allen Meadows (Burghound) put it flatly: “Vincent Boyer produced simply terrific wines in 2013.”
The Puligny-Montrachet “Reuchaux” 13 is a beautiful, elegant wine laden with minerals and delicate white flowers. The mouth is dense and precise, showing clean fruit and excellent tension; with a bit of time in a carafe this opens beatuifully. The Meursault “Ormeau” 13 is drawn from 90 year-old-vines, and has the stuffing to prove it. This intensely rich, concentrated wine is remarkably easy to drink, with enough acidity to stand up to food, but ample roundness to invite enjoyment on its own.
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MIXED CASE: CROWN JEWELS OF WHITE BURGUNDY
4x ROGER BELLAND Chassagne-Montrachet
1er cru Monopole “Clos Pitois” 2014: $68
4x BOYER-MARTENOT
Puligny-Montrachet “Reuchaux” 2013: $56
4x BOYER-MARTENOT
Meursault “Ormeau” 2013: $56
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Ansonia Retail: $720
Notebook price: $595/case
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