Winemaker Notes
White Burgundy, with its richness, texture, and toasted flavors pairs well with light fish and shellfish and can counterbalance cream-based sauces.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
A lovely mid lemon yellow with such finesse to the nose. Fine boned discretion, yet with the backbone of steel, and an exceptional elegance. Delicate white fruit, on the limestone.
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Vinous
The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet En Remilly 1er Cru has the most open and "airy" bouquet, with a touch of menthol gradually emerging. The palate is well balanced and a little honeyed in texture, as that menthol signature continues and the exuberance of the young vines drives the energetic finish. Delicious.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Wine Spectator
Peach, lemon, baking spices and graphite, plus a touch of tangerine, mark this opulent white. Harmonious, with light tannins gracing the extended, mineral-tinged finish. Drink now through 2033.
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.