On a Ramonet Rampage!

I love Ramonet. Fortunately, quite a few restaurants we have dined at over the past couple of months have had Ramonet on their lists at reasonable pricing. I felt it was my duty to road-test the following:

2013 Domaine Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères: Lovely elegance and finesse. Pure white peach aromas and flavours are tinged with floral spice. The palate is quite rocky and balance and proportion are impeccable. The bottle was just starting to stretch out as we finished it. Magnum format please.

2010 Domaine Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères: A very fresh and punchy nose of struck match, pure white peach, green melon and white flowers. It is compact and linear in the mouth. There’s great elegance and balance and it is a wine of stony precision. It finishes with great cut and leaves a chalky imprint once swallowed.

2012 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes: It is Grand Cru quality, rich, powerful and layered. It has the usual Ramonet elegance and the nose shows plenty of struck match reduction. Fruits are all pure white peach., perfectly ripe and sappy. It has a suggestion of spice and whilst acidity is relatively low the wine is energetic.

2008 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes: Maybe just a little more advanced than it should have been but utterly delicious. Has ripe, rich peach fruit and some mild exotic notes. There’s a dollop of butter and it has excellent depth and volume in the mouth. The finish is carried by the usual, mineral acidity of Ruchottes and it has excellent presence and length.

2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte Blanc: It was all yellow fruits with plenty of mineral and spice. In the mouth there’s nice shape and excellent balance. The finish is quite stony and persistence is good.

2011 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers: It had a fine nose of white peach, citrus, white flowers and butter. In the mouth it was compact and linear, with wonderful fruit intensity and a big lick of salty mineral to the finish.

2010 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Blanc: Has some Ramonet spearmint and dense, sappy peach fruit. It is rich and voluminous, with great weight without excess fat. The finish is spicy and long and flecked with mineral.

2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Bourgogne Blanc: Fruit forward with plenty of ripe peach and melon character. It has good richness for its level and some mineral to the base and finish. Quite spicy and delicious

2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Bourgogne Rouge: Pretty nose of strawberries, dried flowers and sandalwood. Bright and juicy in the mouth. Some earthy nuance. Plenty of character.

wow. You’ve been Ramonet good number of those bottles down your gullet.

Have you had 14 Cailleret or Ruchottes—I found a couple of both recently.

Thanks. Lucky you.

I have had the 2014 CM Morgeots a couple of times and it is pretty special.

Thanks Jeremy. Love the sound of these full but racy wines.

One question for those who know … What is the difference between domaine wines and J.C Ramonet wines? He makes all the wines but the vines have differing ownership?

2014 was, I believe, the first time Jean-Claude put his name expressly on the label although he has been in charge for many years. Hence the change.

All domaine wines. Same ownership. One family.

I had Cailleret not too long ago- note is on CT along with notes for Bienvenue, Morgeot and Vergers. 2014 is very special at Ramonet.

And Jayson- you are correct, the name and label change came in 2014. The full story is complicated, but at a high level same family ownership as before. Note there are many new wines as well, including a Clos du Cailleret that is separate from the Cailleret. I am not sure if all these new vineyards are fully owned by Ramonet, however.

Nice!

Love Ramonet, one of the very best white producers.

Those '04 and '05 Montys we had earlier in the year were both stunning!

Very nice! Wish I was on the same rampage.

Great. Now everybody’s going to Ruchottes to buy these. It Vergers on insanity.

sounds like it is Puligny in and starting a Chassagne wines.

Thanks for the notes, what kind of price point do most of these wines fall in? Seems like Ramonet is one of the best white wine producers out there. Would love to try something from him.

I too love Ramonet. the 07` Montrachet was my WOTY. Salivating over the notes as usual Jeremy. Thanks for fulfilling your road test duty.

grand cru pricing has increased hugely—$500 per bottle and even more for the Montrachet. The premier cru pricing has increased but reasonably so. $80-150 for most of the premier cru wines, huge jumps within a year or so of release. And availability has dropped also . . .

In 2016 when we were in Burgundy, we found some premier cru Morgeots at a good price at the Caveau in CM.

Happily, all of the 1er crus are still available for two-figure sums off restaurant lists in the region, though you’re unlikely to find anything with much age.

Others may have equalled what Jean-Claude achieved in the 2014 vintage, but I don’t think anyone surpassed it. The 2014 Montrachet is likely my white of the year, painfully young though it is.

Anyone who has any of the villages and lower level 2012s in their cellar might enjoy taking a look at them now, as the wines are quite forward and flattering. The Vergers is especially delicious.

The '15s, which I tasted last month, are rich and textural, with the higher appellations retaining more cut and energy than the generics, villages and lesser 1er crus. The '15 reds, on the other hand, are not to be missed.

William,

Ramonet’s reds are generally a source of quality, ageworthy wines. The ‘Clos St.Jean’ is uaually a beauty and even the standard Bourgogne tends to over-deliver.

Cheers
Jeremy

Absolutely! I have a bottle of the '61 CSJ which I’m very excited about.

Alas- all too true, it was painful and sudden. 2013 Batard and Bienvenue set me back about $250. In 2014, they were $475. The new importer is actually being really amazing about honoring the long standing retailer relationships under Diageo- but supplies are tighter in the US in general.

The research I have done on international pricing strongly indicates the increases came from the Domaine- not the distribution chain. But then again, when you consider what their few peers are selling for, the new rates are still reasonable.

Last night hosted a small tasting of 2013 Montrachets, all were great. 10th place was Ramonet Montrachet. Not sure if it just needed a lot more time to evolve? Not my favorite producer. Lafon was great but nose of sulfur. #1 as expected was PYCM…

now that’s a rampage. Love to see notes.