2009 DOMAINE RAMONET MONTRACHET GRAND CRU- one of the most amazing white Burgs I`ve had in a long time; it had all of the attributes that makes up a spectacular wine; the colour was yellow gold; the nose had honeysuckle, lemon, apple and pear; the taste profile was more of the apple and pear with a touch of spice; the hallmarks for me were the mouthfeel, flavours and incredible balance; it had just enough viscosity to call it oily like which contributed to carrying all of the treasures over the palate to the back end and then with staying power; it was steady, round and seamless; a perfect wine IMHO
I can believe it, Blake. I was a tad more graphic back in 2013 summer for my WOTY that year, a vintage later:
"2010 Ramonet Montrachet
Well, this sure wasn’t me, and I had no idea this was coming. John’s never had one of these (and I certainly haven’t either) and this is what he wanted. We ended up explaining to Stefan that this, and the red wines, were signature reasons and examples of why patience over the course of a night is needed. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to try this.
This, everyone, is a heck of a wine. At first, the bouquet really snaps at you with decided minerality, fresh squeezed lemon galore, some sea air even and possibly a dash of sage. And the first taste has laser-like precision that puts to shame all but perhaps Raveneau Chablis. But the marvel is that this is just Act One. Slowly, over 30-minute intervals, matchstick and toffee-covered ginger begin to poke their head out of the glass for a look-see. Slowly, over 30-minute intervals, the palate begins to expand until, at about the 2.5 hour mark, there is the purest expression of fresh pineapple with coconut milk, all bordered by nut paste and continued bracing acidity and minerality. The last tastes, with some pear and butterscotch being added, and possibly some star anise on the nose, provide the picture, only, of the skyscraper this wine will be. It is still being built, but this is the first dry white wine that I’ve tasted where I believe perfection is attainable. It also will, if it doesn’t suffer the premox curse, be a wine that, literally, will be able to last 100 years. Undeveloped as it is, this is a strong, strong candidate for WOTY and if you pressed me for a score, 97+ wouldn’t be out of line. It is the stuff wet dreams are made of."
Mike, this is more than a tad more graphic and even though its the 10, it could fit the 09` as well. I could not express in words and descriptors what the wine did for me, but you did. Thanks for the added thrill.
as I recall the story told in a Coates tome, Pierre went to his lawyer’s office to sign paperwork and pay for his oeuvres of Montrachet. He was evidently a shy elderly man who rarely ventured out of Chassagne. When it came time to pay, he started pulling out stacks of bills from every pocket of his faded and stained overalls until the considerable sum was reached with an enormous pile of bills on the attorney’s desk.
I can just picture the scene as this shy elderly farmer pays for his 1/4 hectare of Montrachet.
Alan, I discussed this story with Noël Ramonet, and he says it’s not true.
This is an excerpt from the book I wrote (Patrimoine extraordinaire des vignobles de Bourgogne) and which has yet to be published in English:
“It was rumored that my grandfather paid for the Montrachet in cash, but this is completely untrue,” denies Noël. “Even if he paid partly in cash, he took out a large loan, which we only finished repaying in 1988. We found this story funny at first, but we stopped laughing when the French IRS swooped down on us, in 1980, to audit our accounting books!”
Because of this story, the French IRS suspected that Pierre sold wine under the table–hence the provenance of the cash with which he bought the Montrachet parcel.
