With sincere thanks to the very generous teams at Pogo’s plus members of the distribution chain that make Dallas a great place to buy Burgundy, tonight I attended a tasting of most of the range of Etienne Sauzet’s 2022 white burgundies. [Edit 09-19, 2PM CST to correct a name]
There is something extra special about 2022- something lovely and endearing about them that does not really translate into a 100 point scoring scale. Hints of it appeared with various tastings of entry level wines over the past months, and it became most apparent in a recent encounter with 2022 Emmanuel Rouget Bourgone Haut Cotes Nuits. Happily the magic seems to extent to the white wines as well because this is a really magical lineup from one of my favorite white burgundy producers.
All wines opened approximately 2 hours prior to tasting.
2022 Etienne Sauzet Chardonnay Bourgogne
peach and pear on the nose, apple notes, on the palate firm with excellent impact, racy minerals, white flowers, as is often the case a top Bourgogne and one to cellar for a few years to let it develop more depth and cream.
(***), 2028-2037
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet
elegant and lifted floral nose, soft and rounded mineral notes, apple and pear blossom, on the palate white peach with acacia blossoms, firm lime acids on a tight finish of good length, elegant, lovely, attractive now but really needs some time to fully develop.
(***)+, 2028–2042
2022 Etienne Sauzet Santenay 1er cru Les Gravieres
a firmer and tighter nose than the Puligny AC tending more towards pear, steely with a bit of opulence, on the palate firm with apple and citrus notes, slight orange peel verve, honeysuckle, excellent length.
(***)+, 2027-2037
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet La Garenne
gorgeous nose laden with pear blossoms and mineral notes, ethereal, genteel citrus, on the palate racy with a whiff of exotic tropical fruits, steel and lime across the taut mid-palate, fine length, a splendid effort.
(****), 2027-2042
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet Hameau de Blagny
pure apple and pear on the nose, citrus and sleek mineral notes with coaxing in the glass, beeswax, quite impactful on the palate in the dead center surrounded by an exceptionally tense and finessed structure, primary fruit driven on the finish of excellent length.
(****), 2030-2045
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet Champ Gain
a distinct browned butter/coffee grounds note on the nose in the manner of Drouhin’s Beaune Clos de Mouches blanc but more elegant in delivery, lemon grass and citrus notes, almost aggressively assertive on the palate with a core of blazing blood orange notes, fiery and racy - yet overall it remains elegant, butter and mineral notes, truffles, length to burn, perhaps the most singular wine in the lineup tonight and with a fine future ahead, it will have a long life but I think come around a bit sooner than the other premier crus.
(****)+, 2027-2047
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts
elegant and elevated layers of cream and white minerals on the nose, pear and Golden Delicious apples, on the palate an open creamy citrus tone already, honey, orange blossoms, magnificent length with restrained and rounded streams of minerals and white river stones, sensuous, alluring, a rare beauty.
(****)+, 2030-2047
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet La Truffiere
celestial nose, the tightest and most ethereal of the premier cru range presented this evening, honeysuckle, steely pears, orange blossom and lemon grass, on the palate piercing with riveting tension, winding spirals of flower and mineral laden fruits surrounding a deep inner core of fire with racy orange peel notes, incredible length dripping with cascades of spring orchard blossoms, a monumental vintage for this most special wine.
(*****), 2032-2052
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet
deft and seamless on the nose, incredibly taut but so effortless it goes almost unnoticed, hints of blossoms, pear, peach and apple, and all of these quietly harmonious- perfectly calm and almost standing still awaiting their time to eventually burst forth, on the palate a broad and deep impact that slowly builds to a point of intensity matching that of some of its more overtly aggressive brethren, and after all this a finish to match- sneakily long and calm just barely revealing all the glories to come, sublime, endlessly endearing, effortless, pure bliss.
(*****), 2032-2052
2022 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres - En La Richard
a precocious and joyous nose of pink and blue flowers, succulent pears, bright mineral notes, on the palate an immediate intensity with painfully tight fruit that is about as full bodied as you will ever see in a Puligny, penetrating with a hint of the exotic on the lengthy finish, graceful but today at least decidedly more fruit driven and affable than its siblings, should be accessible fairly soon but a long and glorious life ahead.
(****)+, 2027-2052
2022 Etienne Sauzet Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet
the most muted nose of the entire range tasted today but celestial in its presence with the barest hints of a dazzling array of elements, a dark night sky punctuated by intense tiny far-away blossoms adorning infinitely complex gossamer webs of shining thread-thin steel, beeswax, a hint of lime, on the palate understated and steely, firm long racy lime acids throughout with an almost digital definition, breathtakingly tense with a raw lemon note on a finish almost beyond imagination in length, my love for Bienvenue spans almost the full length of my 25+ years in tasting wine and this is as good as it gets, it never is a wine of particular power- as with the greatest wines of Vosne-Romanee you have to go looking for it as it will not come to you, one of the greatest Bienvenues I have ever tasted and one that will need far more aging than usual to reach its sublime peak.
(*****), 2034++
2022 Etienne Sauzet Batard-Montrachet
a more overt and aggressive nose than on the Bienvenue- but similarly ungiving at present, honey, orange blossoms and steely limes, on the palate broad and firm with cream notes just barely peeking out, painfully intense and closed on the mid-palate but with all the signs and hints of great things to come most evident on the long and racy finish, many years of tasting Ramonet’s Bienvenue and Batard side-by-side at release have me prepared for the reality that a lengthy Bienvenue TN will be followed by a rather short one for Batard- and such is the case here, this is a big and sexy Batard in the old school Sauzet style, and with that comes an even greater necessity for a long time in the cellar for the wine to even begin to reveal itself, a long wait ahead- but well worth it.
(*****), 2037++
2022 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet
the grandest and most intricate nose of them all, massive in scale but at every step confident and effortless, floral notes, minerals, buttery, creamy, the full range of orchard fruits and a quietly powerful stony tone underneath, the best of all the premier crus tasted tonight is here in some part- and ingeniously spun into a harmonious and perfect embodiment of all that is great in Chassagne and Puligny Montrachet, on the palate lime and steel notes dominate at present, the greatest and deepest impact but with a deft touch if not quite the usual degree of finesse, of all the great Montrachets this for me is the purest expression of Chardonnay at its lusty and creamy best, its supremacy is clear tonight but as with the Bienvenue and Batard it will need considerable time to reach a shining peak that has to be witnessed to be believed.
(*****), 2034++
