Winemaker Notes
Butterscotch on the nose, somewhat less powerful than the Bâtard. Very smoky and mineral on the palate, with lacy-textured fruit which is even classier than the Bâtard. Less heavy, but just as amazing, like a caged animal with its mouth- bursting acidity. Lime cream with butter, key lime pie, like lime balsamic – just a tiny bit that explodes.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind, the 2011 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru is a vintage that I omitted during my Burgundy tasting. I missed out because here it out-flanked the Montrachet from Sauzet. It has developed a complex bouquet with apple blossom, hazelnut and a soupcon of cold granite. I appreciate the drive and intensity of the Chevalier-Montrachet. The palate is lively with superb precision, offering the crescendo you expect from this vineyard. It is still primal yet there is impressive energy and nervosité that will stand it in good stead for long-term aging. This is an excellent Chevalier-Montrachet from Sauzet that should repay bottle aging.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A source of some of the finest, juicy, silky and elegantly floral Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet lies just to the north of Chassagne-Montrachet, a village with which it shares two of its Grands Crus vineyards: Le Montrachet itself and Bâtard-Montrachet. Its other two, which it owns in their entirety, are Chevalier-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. And still, some of the finest white Burgundy wines come from the prized Premiers Crus vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet. To name a few, Les Pucelles, Le Clavoillon, Les Perrières, Les Referts and Les Combettes, as well as the rest, lie northeast and up slope from the Grands Crus.
Farther to the southeast are village level whites and the hamlet of Blagny where Pinot Noir grows best and has achieved Premier Cru status.