Winemaker Notes
A complex and beguiling nose of citrus peel, lemon curd, burnt toast and elusive honeyed floral notes tempt the senses. The palate is round, creamy and mouth-coating, with a mineral-inflected finish. Ideal with noble white meats or fish like salmon.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This pear- and green-apple-scented wine is sourced from a vineyard bordering the Grand Cru Chevalier-Montrachet. Spine-tingling lemon and grapefruit zest flavors are swirled into streaks of cream and silk, held upright by a nervy, steely spine of acidity. Full bodied yet electric, it drinks beautifully young but should hold through 2030. Cape Classics. Editors’ Choice. —
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Wine & Spirits
Philippe Colin’s domaine includes a half-acre of En Remilly, sited above Le Montrachet at the border with Chevalier. The shallow clay-limestone soils are stoniest near the top of the parcel. This is the most powerfully concentrated of the 2019 Chassagnes we tasted from Colin—one taster described it as “a bodice ripper,” remarking on a texture that’s both voluptuous and constrained by flinty reduction, waiting to be unlocked. There’s amplitude, the pale fleshiness of yellow cherries and the elasticity of their skins, ripe, crunchy and juicy.
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Wine Spectator
A gossamer version, this is open and lively, with apple and pear flavors tinged by baking spices. Leaves a mouthwatering impression on the finish.
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.