Tasted in Chassagne-Montrachet with Caroline l’Estimé, 25 October, 2016.
Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard
9 Place des Noyers
21190 Chassagne-Montrachet
Tel: +33 3 80 21 31 68
www.domaine-gagnard.com
Caroline on 2016:
“Savigny was hard, north of Chassagne and the valley towards St.Aubin too – this was some of the most touched by the frost. I managed still to make 1.5 barrels Bâtard so had to be happy with that (6 barrels would be a ‘normal’ harvest!). The Clos Maltroie was hardly touched by the frost but did get some hail. One of worst touched in 2016 was Chenevottes; in 2015 there are 19 barrels, in 2016, 2. I will probably keep some 2015 back to sell with 2016s so that sales volume is not so affected. Santenay was not so hard touched, but it was still a small harvest. Overall we only harvested somewhere between 25-30% of a normal volume – for the whole domaine – the calculations are not yet completed but the grapes were very nice so that’s some consolation. It was total sadness at the start of September as there was no rain and some vines were beginning to lose their leaves – the were starting to look like cadavers… but the rain brought hope, and even washed the grapes too!”
Caroline on 2015:
Very little wine because there was some rain during flowering, but I see super quality, and in both colours too.
The wines…
A really super selection of reds here. And then there are the whites. Bravo Caroline!
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet Cuvée l’Estime
Bottled one week after the harvest – currently the only wine in bottle.
A big, bright and frankly gorgeous basket of dark, comely fruits. Also in the mouth, big round and caressing – yet still with plenty of muscle. Weight but nothing heavy. Not super complex, but super-tasty. Yum! Very yum!
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos St.Jean
A little lighter colour. Brighter much more forward fruit. Almost but not quite raspberry. More transparent, more lithe and complex. Super! Really excellent length here too. A young wine for sure but with a fine minerality in the undercurrent.
Less than 20 hl/ha here because not much grapes due to rain at flowering. From Grand Clos and Clos Charreau which neighbours the Clos des Tavannes – a blend of mid-slope Morgeot and the bottom.
A deeper, more considered nose, but with beautiful purity. In the mouth, this is big and mineral, but big in volume not weight or overt richness. Super acidity and associated complexity. Really a wine to keep, but super.
Also a beautiful fruit, red and with a slight cushioning and less dark than the Morgeot. Captivating, in the mouth, here is also lots of dimension, a little mineral structure below too. Still a wine to wait for in its more overt red fruit guise. Fresh and mineral finishing – bravo encore. A ‘buy what you can’ as there isn’t much!
Les Blancs…
2015 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Blanc
Half the elevage in tanks, the rest in a blend of barrel ages. The vines are near Le Rochepot, bottled just before the harvest, this the second vintage in bio and the bottles are all screw-capped, about 6000 bottles worth – except for the 600 bottles in cork for the Luddites…
A warming, welcoming aromatic. Good texture, fine line of flavour, acidity and concentration. This is a modest but really very tasty wine – super!
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet Champs Derriere
Close to ‘Château Picard,’ lost most of the crop this year due to frost. To be bottled in December. This was once planted in aligote, so this is still young vines as the aligote was pulled out only around 2004.
A deep nose, only partially suggesting Chassagne as there’s some ripeness here too. Mouth-watering, melting flavours over the palate, just an accent of oak in the finish and a faint spice – almost a Meursault-style finish. Very tasty wine!
A brighter, beautifully transparent nose – more obviously Chassagne. In the mouth this is vibrant with an extra engaging sweet edge to the supple, weighty fruit. Excellent.
Also a bright nose, much more floral. Also more energy and here more mineral, a great burst of mid-palate flavour here. Gorgeous, even with its twist of finishing oak. Bravo!
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Chenevottes
A nose of weight, amplitude and volume – mineral too! Melting, edges with sweet acidity, creaminess and much complexity. The oak is always there (here) but never spoiling. Super mineral length, really lovely.
Fine high tones of citrus, green-shaded. Ooh – gorgeous on the palate, bubbling complexity, energy and a fine, easy minerality. Pure indulgence.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Champs-Gain
More depth, a vibrancy of aroma too, more obviously mineral tending to agrumes. Also vibrant, mouth-watering flavour – this vintage is just so good! Richness totally cut but the balance of the wine. Gorgeous…
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos de la Maltroie
A high-toned nose, suggesting flowers, here with some agrume, almost in the direction of mandarin. Wow. Just perfect energy. Virtually no oak until the finish where its more marked, but again vibrancy and deliciousness. Gorgeous again.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er La Boudriotte
A more subtle nose, suggesting flowers and some ripe yellow citrus. Lovely mineral impression, a modest richness of texture and a slower delivery of flavour in waves. Really compelling but much more composed than the others here – so far.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Blanchots-Dessus
Badly hit by frost this year.
A fresh and wide nose. But rather discreet compared to most. Hmmm… I love this wine so much every year, despite it hardly showing a Chassagne character, its silky and ingraining flavour, comes in slow waves and leaves equally slowly – I swallowed! A young but gorgeous wine that delivers a reprise of flavour when your least expecting it.
In Morgeot.
Vibrant and mineral nose, in the direction of agrumes. Some muscle, but no fat – what a super wine. A burst of mid-palate flavour, fresh and complex – bravo!
Really a mineraly, fruited nose that’s high and deep if not so wide. Super complexity and energy – wow! – here is much to appreciate. Just top wine…
2015 Bâtard-Montrachet
Normally 6 barrels, this year 3.5, ‘always thinking of pulling out 50%, due to very low yields, but we continue… every year we say next year! Logic has not yet won!’ Malo was already done before the end of Nov!
Really a very big nose, floral and fruit. Here is energy and weight, but it’s not a wine of fat, it’s a wine of size and complexity. The finish is subtler than some but with a great length.