This note isn’t really going to do the wine justice…I just started typing after pouring a small taste and this is what poured out. I am SO excited about this wine…and can’t tell you how happy I am with this. I’ll be buying this every year until I can’t find it anymore like PYCM or Keller. This is so damn exciting I just ordered a Lobster Roll for a late lunch instead of the lamb meatballs I planned to make…
2016 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot Puligny-Montrachet- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet (12/29/2018)
This has it…that struck-match smell that I find in all the Chardonnays I love followed by a hint of smoke, pear, and green apple notes that linger. The palate is lean and acid driven with a hint of juicy-fruit bubble gum just as the mid palate transitions into rounding out with real restraint and poise just as the oak steps in creating a framework for the wine. This is a lovely effort that is medium bodied, with high acidity, vibrant fruit, and a lingering note of mineral & chalk that is lovely. The wine seems like it’s going to get a little “showy” at the mid-palate and then reigns it all in. Lovely…
Its a perfect pairing, the sweetness of the lobster and the body of the Chardonnay…This wine was so good when I tasted it that I opted to run down the road and grab a Lobster Roll from The Eagles Nest…a local “hot spot” that is busy pretty much all the time that they’re open. To put it to context…the place had one empty seat at 3pm. It’s out of the way, small, and in an ugly, run-down looking building. Inside it’s clean and they’re trying to maximize the space to the best of their ability. I love eat 3-5 of these a year…it’s not inexpensive…but worth every penny.
The 2016 Folatières was really excellent. They made a very strong set of reds and whites in 2016. 2015 turned out well too, not too extreme. Very strong for their reds.
Have not yet tasted any of their whites, but I have tasted their B-rouge and a couple of their 1er cru Maranges and they were fresh and pure. I look forward to trying this one.
The Meursault is from the Clos du Cromin so a richer, more exotic expression of the village from deeper soils - and that was only emphasized by small yields after the frost in 2016. The Puligny 2016 was quite closed when I tasted it a month ago, but it’s classically balanced and quite classy. Bottles in the US might be more open than the one I tasted at the domaine.
2014 PM was tight as a drum around a year ago, I would be shocked if it’s moved anywhere since. Big fan of this domaine. The 2014 Bourgogne Blanc is outrageously good.
So I was inspired to seek out a bottle of this to try for myself.
I opened it yesterday, drank some, and I’m enjoying it tonight as well. Definitely a lovely wine, and Kirk’s description pretty accurately describes what I’ve found. What’s stood out to me a bit has been the compact nature of the wine. Linear, taut, mineral, quite a drying finish that leaves you with no sense of fluff or baby fat. Yet, this doesn’t have any unpleasant austerity.
I really like the style, I’ll have to buy some more and seek out some of the 1ers.
By the way, thanks for the post, Kirk. I had been wanting to give Bachelet-Monnot a try and this post and thread convinced me.
