Vintus

Chassagne-Montrachet "Grandes Ruchottes", Premier Cru

Chassagne-Montrachet lies at the southern end of the “Côte des Blancs”, the four mile strip of the Côte de Beaune in which Puligny, Meursault and Blagny are also situated, collectively producing the most revered white wines of Burgundy. Chassagne-Montrachet covers 867 acres, of which 31 are occupied by the three great grands crus of Le Montrachet and Batard-Montrachet, shared with Puligny-Montrachet, and Criots-Batard-Montrachet, situated solely in Chassagne-Montrachet. Of the balance, 392 acres are in seventeen premiers crus.  The five and a quarter Grandes Ruchottes vineyard lies in the best section for white Chassagne, above the road to Santenay.  The vineyards in this area  are south-east facing at 250-330 meters. 

Grandes Ruchottes is a rocky terroir, and the wine has lots of stony flavor.  It is one of the most welcoming of the Chassagne vineyards.  It is gentle, welcoming, and easygoing.  Pretty and not aggressive.

• 2009 Vintage

  • "The 2009 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Grandes Ruchottes presents the more mineral side of Chassagne. It is a beautifully vibrant wine endowed with layers of finely sculpted fruit and a wiry, taut finish. I especially like the steeliness here. Anticipated maturity: 2014+." 91-94 Points Wine Advocate

  • "Bright pale yellow.  Lower-toned aromas of smoky oak and flowers.  Tight and minerally in the mouth, with slightly hard-edged acidity and a strong rocky character leaving this wine rather austere today.  But the finish is zesty and long." 90-93 Points International Wine Cellar

• 2008 Vintage

  There is a big difference in how most people in Burgundy see 2008 and how Lucien Le Moine sees its 2008s.  In a typically unique perspective, Mounir Saouma believes 2008 is a great vintage in Burgundy, one of the greatest of the decade.  2008 was the third in a series of historically normal vintage conditions.  Over the last hundred years, on average the rainiest month in Burgundy has been June and the driest month has been September; rain in the summer is common, occurring more than half the time.  The light, fine skin of Pinot Noir benefits from the freshness in the summer, needs it, and it helps the fat Chardonnay on its way to maturity as well.  The idea that only the “modern” vintage – hot and dry – can be great is a big issue for Mounir.

  In June 2008, within a given week rain always alternated with hot sunny periods.  The results were small bunches of grapes that were getting mature while keeping acidity, and slowly ripening.  Ultimately, there was a naturally low yield, an excellent sign, with 20% fewer grapes than a normal year, providing sweet fruit and high levels of tannin.  Very importantly, Mounir believes that in recent times Burgundy has lost its simplicity to some extent – when you tasted the grapes in 2008, there was no issue with rot.  Most people looked at their vineyards, were terrified of the rot and pressed very lightly to get clean juice, only did short macerations with not a lot of lees, didn’t stir, and then fined or filtered to bottle clean wines. 

  Lucien Le Moine did the opposite.  They pressed hard, bringing a lot of lees into the wine.  To balance the high acidity and some of the unripe bunch areas due to the cool weather, they topped with fine lees every ten days instead of topping with wine.  They did not stir, and so the lees would take a full week to fall to the bottom of the barrel, slowly imparting complexity and richness.  For about five years, Lucien Le Moine has been the last producer in Burgundy to bottle, and they were again with the 2008 vintage.  Malolactic Fermentation was not as late as usual because of the lees that was added, and finished in April/May instead of June/July.  Lucien Le Moine has never never acidified or de-acidified, so while some people de-acidified 2008, they didn’t touch the wines, and watched them over the summer become sweeter, fatter and more balanced, more attractive.  They started bottling around May 2010, and finished beginning of October 2010, after the harvest of 2010. 

  Looking at surrounding vintages, the 2005 is ageable, full of body, massive, tannic, with high acidity.  2006 has almost late harvest flavor, very deep, beautiful maturity, and nice acidity.   2007 is transparent, the perfect example of terroir in Burgundy, but will not age perhaps as long as 2006.  The 2008s are going to be the year for people who care about Burgundy.  They will be appreciated the next two-three years, for their very fresh fruit and balanced bodies.  Then they will sleep for a few years, but not like 2005s which are so big they will need a long time to awaken.  The 2008s will come back as classic wines of Burgundy, but not in a spicy, sous-bois manner; they will be traditional, but have a little bit of flashy fruit.  A very particular combination. 

  Lastly, the particularity of the Lucien Le Moine 2008s – a lot of wines are cloudy due to the lees; make sure to stand them up before decanting. 
   

  • "There's lots of smoke and toast elements in this white, yet also concentrated flavors of apple, peach, grapefruit and mineral. The finish is long and detailed, featuring mineral accents and mouthwatering acidity." 93 Points Wine Spectator

  • "A very strong leesy note completely dominates the nose though the full-bodied, generous, rich and very powerful flavors possess ample amounts of dry extract that buffer the firm acid spine and confers a seductively textured mouth feel onto the lightly mineral and highly complex finish." 90-92 Points Burghound

• 2007 Vintage

  As Mounir Saouma says, “2007 saw a fresh summer – when we say fresh summer, we mean well-balanced rain and sunny days.   There were cool but not cold days, days with some rain and sun, but not exaggerated either way.  And you see in the wines there is beautiful acidity, but not as much as 2008, and nice sweetness, but not as much as 2006.” 

  This character of mid-way but not extreme in many areas resulted in wines that took a long time to reveal their nature.  “The wines started fruity and the tannins were firm, and slowly we started seeing a kind of melding between sweetness and acidity after the malolactic a year later; we started seeing the real character of the wines after 14 months.  

   

  This development of the vintage is the reason that 2007 was the latest bottling Lucien Le Moine has ever done, and why they were the last producer in all of Burgundy to bottle.  Typically Lucien Le Moine starts bottling in January or February; in 2007 they started in February, but the majority of bottling took place from May to September.  Mounir aged all his 2007 wines on their lees, without sulfur, and never racked.   

   

  Mounir compares 2007 and 2006 a lot; they will both be vintages that are approachable and will last, and their technical numbers are similar, but they are physically and aromatically in completely different worlds.  “2006 is more about sweetness and for some people a heavier character; 2007 is more about freshness.  We will enjoy 2007, but it doesn’t take anything from the aging. 

   

  The whites are beautifully clean, in some cases showing an exotic character up-front, but they also have wonderful complexity and substance; like the reds, and as a general characterization of the vintage, they are wines of tremendous freshness and profundity.
  • "From barrel (of which there are two), Saouma’s 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet Grandes Ruchottes smells of ripe peach, bright lemon, and chalk dust. Suggestions of toasted grains and nuts as well as caramel emerge on the palate, which exhibits surprising creaminess considering the citric vivacity that prevails here all the way through a long, bright, saline, chalky finish. I suspect this will be worth following for 6-8 years. Musky, smoky, flor-like notes rendered the Le Moine Chassagne Morgeot intriguing but what followed from the barrel was as yet insufficiently advanced to be assessed when I was last able to taste it." 90-91+ Points Wine Advocate

  • "A leesy nose blocks the more subtle elements though it does not continue onto the powerful, and sizeable, flavors brimming with dry extract on the rich, concentrated and mouth coating finish that possesses near perfect balance and excellent length. A big, indeed even dramatic, wine if not necessarily one of great refinement." 90-92 Points Burghound

  • "Rich buttery nose hints at smoke, crushed rock and flint; this really projects its aromas. Rich and deep, showing more volume than La Romanee but also very good depth to the flavors of peach liqueur, peat and saline minerality. At once crisp and explosive on the aftertaste. The 2007s here finished with residual sugar between 1.5 and 2.5 grams per liter, noted Saouma, while the 2006s were generally a bit higher." 91 Points International Wine Cellar

     

• 2006 Vintage

  Mounir Saouma’s approach to the 2006 vintage differed from many. His growers picked late, allowing the fine September weather to draw out the maturity of the grapes and compensate for a cool, wet August.  It was a risk, and not a typical vintage for Mounir, who usually harvests earlier than most, giving him the good acid levels he likes.  For the whites, Mounir feels very simply that 2006 was a great vintage.  The fruit needed plenty of time to develop in the vineyard, and it was important to stay calm and accept some of the botrytis that settled in; the results were complex, rich and exotic

  • "This is a really strikingly pure with an airy and layered nose of dried rose petal and freshly sliced lemon where the latter element is also reflected by the rich, full and naturally sweet flavors that possess excellent cut and finishing persistence. Very solid and well-balanced." 89-91 Points Burghound

  • "Round and well-endowed with peach, floral, spice and mineral aromas and flavors. It builds nicely on the palate, underscored by lively acidity. The finish is subtle, but lasts and lasts, with an aftertaste of toast. Drink now through 2017." 92 Points Wine Spectator