Winemaker Notes
The wine is bright with a light golden color. Its aromas, reminiscent of hawthorn, acacia, honeysuckle, evolve toward hazelnut, and after a few years maturing, deliver some hints of honey and ripe pear. On the palate, this opulent wine offers long lasting flavors lingering a long time in the aftertaste.
Due to the refinement of their bouquet and the elegance of their flavors, these great white wines are unquestionably destined to accompany haute cuisine : shellfish cooked in a light wine sauce (court-bouillon) or any delicate fish (such as Dover sole) prepared grilled or poached.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Complex aromas of dried apples, apricots, basil and matchstick. Full-bodied with layers of fruit and a fascinating combination of ripe fruit, smoke and lemon grass. Long and very flavorful.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embazées is showing very nicely, exhibiting aromas of pear, orange oil, fresh pastry and toasted nuts, followed by a medium to full-bodied, lively palate that's ripe but precise.
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 Côte de Beaune village of Burgundy most famous for its beautifully textured and powerful whites, Chassagne-Montrachet reaches farthest south in the Côte d’Or, save for the village of Santenay. It has three Grands Crus vineyards: Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. Le Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet overlap with and are (confusingly) shared with the village of Puligny-Montrachet. But Chassagne-Montrachet bears sole ownership of the Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru.
The beauty doesn’t stop there as the village has a great many outstanding Premiers Crus wines and village level wines. Most famous Premiers Crus vineyards include Les Chenevottes, Clos de la Maltroie, En Cailleret and Les Ruchottes. Also, village level wines offer many lovely examples of what Chassagne-Montrachet has to offer, but at more approachable price points and perhaps less demand of waiting.
The best sites in Chassagne-Montrachet have complex soils of sedimentary rock and limestone (with less marl). Whites, which are by law composed of 100% Chardonnay (as in all classified white Burgundy from Côte d’Or), have steely power, bright and concentrated citrus, stone or tropical fruit characteristics and attractive textures ranging from plush to tactile, grippy and mineral-driven.
There is some fine Pinot Noir produced from the village. These wines tend to be high-toned and earthy, with wild herb aromas and suave tannins.