Well done Jeremy. Love Carillon BBM, and the whole list looks great. Thanks for the notes.
Would have been good to have a PY-CM Alan.
With regards to where BBM sits it is a very interesting question. It doesn’t hurt that most of those who hold land in BBM are brilliant producers. I think the hallmarks of BBM are that the wines are finer than BM, Chevalier or Montrachet. They don’t tend to have the explosive power of BM or the layers and real mid-palate flesh of Chevalier or Montrachet. There is certainly a delicate floral note to be found in most wines and they are quite cerebral. I would put Montrachet and Chevalier ahead of BBM in the pecking order as well as CC from the likes of Coche and Leroy. It probably sits alongside BM as its equal and I have not drunk enough Criots over the years to form an educated opinion although I tend to always favour Blain’s BM over their CBM.
I won’t pretend to have Jeremy’s knowledge but will echo his comments. For me BBM is leaner and racier than Montrachet or Batard, less powerful, but often more refined. Not as powerful, but very persistent, definitely grand cru. Chevalier is like that but has more power, closer to Batard than BBM is. I unfortunately also don’t have enough Criots experience and there aren’t many producers of it.
Congrats on an excellent tasting evening. Would have loved to have been there!
Thanks for chiming in Alan, William and Jeremy. I think the point about producers is spot on - there’s not many BBM duds. I suppose those few Domaines that have both Batard and Bienvenues are interesting to look at - Sauzets BBM I recall as excellent (but haven’t had a vintage since the mid 90s I think!) and on a par with their Batard, Leflaive I prefer the BBM and have never had an exciting BM, Ramonet I feel the BM is a quite better wine. Small samples, of course, from my personal experience.
+1. Love that floral note on a good BBM. The 08 PYCM BBM shows that character in spades.
I tend to prefer the BBM over BM with PYCM and Ramonet. Although I haven’t been able to buy Ramonet BBM since 2010.