Au Pied du Mont Chauve

France

About the producer

About the producer

Au Pied du Mont Chauve are the wines made at Château de Chassagne-Montrachet, a huge property based in the heart of the village in the Côte de Beaune.

The wines are labelled Au Pied du Mont Chauve, however, because the château name legally belongs to the neighbouring estate Domaine Bader-Mimeur.

Since 1997, the property has been in the hands of the Picard family, who own six domaines in the Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise in total. The original Domaine Picard was a two-hectare estate in Chagny, south of Chassagne-Montrachet, at the northern limits of the Côte Chalonnaise. It was established in 1951 by Louis Felix Picard. Felix along with his son Michel (who worked on the estate from the age of 15) steadily increased their holdings, first in Mercurey and Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise before buying the Château de Chassagne-Montrachet in 1997. Michel’s daughter Francine Picard has been managing the various estates since the late 1990s. Today 110 hectares are farmed organically, and she began to converting the vineyards to biodynamic farming in 2010.

In total the Picard family manage 136 hectares (110 hectares) in the Côte Chalonnaise and 26 hectares in the Côte de Beaune, roughly split between 60% red and 40% white.

In the vineyard

In the vineyard

The Au Pied du Mont Chauve vineyards are predominantly based in the Côte de Beaune: with vineyards in Chassagne-Montrachet, including six Premiers Crus; Puligny-Montrachet, including two Premiers Crus; and Saint-Aubin, including three Premiers Crus. They also have a Montagny Premier Cru as well as two Grand Cru plots: Corton Clos des Fiètres and Corton Charlemagne. They produce both red and white wines in the Premier Cru vineyards of Saint-Aubin Pitangerets, Le Charmois and Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Chaumées.

The vineyards at Au Pied du Mont Chauve are all farmed biodynamically, fed only with natural fertilizer from the surrounding farms and entirely ploughed by horse. The fruit is all hand-harvested. According to Francine, their conversion to biodynamic farming was in order to preserve and strengthen the structure of the plant, through an increase in soil health.

The 40-strong team at the estate carries out in-depth studies on the vines’ health, while also working in a harmonious way with nature, something which Francine believes increases the precision of the fruit. In May 2019, Antoine Lepetit de la Bigne, a specialist in biodynamic viticulture, joined the estate as Technical Director.

In the winery

In the winery

Sorting, pressing, fermentation, racking and bottling is all carried out according to the lunar calendar. Only natural yeasts are used during fermentation and particular attention is paid to the selection of oak casks as well as to the bottling date, in order to emphasise the different characteristics of each site.

The Chardonnays of the domaine are generally straight, tight, precise and acquire natural fat after a few years. For the reds there is an emphasis on retaining the perfumes of Pinot Noir at the domaine, with gentle pump-overs during fermentation to produce wines with supple tannins and precision on the finish.

Each year the new barrels are given a distinct colour banding. Walking through the 15th century cellars, it is easy to spot the age of each of the barriques used in what is a hugely colourful cellar.

Gaja’s Brunello di Montalcino - Pieve Santa Restituta

Gaja’s wines from Barbaresco are undoubtedly some of the finest wines in the world, but their single vineyard wines from their Brunello di Montalcino estate – Pieve Santa Restituta - whilst a lot less well known, deserve equal attention, particularly with the release of their 2015s due out next week. It was a big decision for this Piedmont producer to ...

BY Gavin Smith,

ON April 14, 2020

Brunello di Montalcino – The Young Minds of Montalcino

Trying to reach Sangiovese’s true potential in Montalcino Sangiovese, like Pinot Noir, is very much susceptible to over-cropping and in recent years has been used and abused by many winemakers to the detriment of its true varietal profile. Sangiovese has the potential to produce wines with the same textural brilliance as some of the world’s best Pinot Noir; it can ...

ON June 22, 2018

Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche

Simon Davies, Head of Marketing at FINE+RARE, shares his musings on Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche following a spectacular lunch hosted by winemaker, Veronique Drouhin. I went to a magnificent lunch yesterday hosted by Veronique Drouhin where she showed a vertical of Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche. The vintages shown were as follows: 2009 Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche, Domaine Joseph ...

BY FINE+RARE,

ON October 13, 2011

F+R Tuscany Report: Montalcino

Brunello is without doubt one of Italy’s most important wines; indeed some have argued that it is Italy’s greatest (although we would probably give that crown to Barolo). Super Tuscan's aside, Brunello is the Italian wine that will most likely appeal to Bordeaux lovers, those that find Barolo’s acidity a little too much, and the very best Brunellos – and ...

ON September 4, 2014

Brunello di Montalcino: F+R report

Part of what we do at FINE+RARE is try, wherever possible, to get as close to source as we can. Ideally we deal direct with the winemakers themselves. Following the success of the brilliant 2010 vintage, our buying team have just returned from Montalcino. Jessica Bryans recounts the trip: It is hard to believe that Brunello is such a new ...

ON June 11, 2015

About the producer

Au Pied du Mont Chauve are the wines made at Château de Chassagne-Montrachet, a huge property based in the heart of the village in the Côte de Beaune.

The wines are labelled Au Pied du Mont Chauve, however, because the château name legally belongs to the neighbouring estate Domaine Bader-Mimeur.

In total the Picard family manage 136 hectares (110 hectares) in the Côte Chalonnaise and 26 hectares in the Côte de Beaune, roughly split between 60% red and 40% white.

In the vineyard

In the winery

Each year the new barrels are given a distinct colour banding. Walking through the 15th century cellars, it is easy to spot the age of each of the barriques used in what is a hugely colourful cellar.

Gaja’s Brunello di Montalcino - Pieve Santa Restituta

BY Gavin Smith,

ON April 14, 2020

Brunello di Montalcino – The Young Minds of Montalcino

ON June 22, 2018

Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche

BY FINE+RARE,

ON October 13, 2011

F+R Tuscany Report: Montalcino

ON September 4, 2014

Brunello di Montalcino: F+R report

ON June 11, 2015

View All Current Listings

Sort by:

Availability:

Expand all

Price

2016 Col. Cs (2xCM Macherelles, PM Garenne, SA Remilly)

Au Pied du Mont Chauve

Burgundy

From

£295.00

6x75cl

4 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

£295.00

6x75cl

£295.00

4 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

2011 Puligny Montrachet Les Demoiselles

Au Pied du Mont Chauve

Burgundy

From

£677.00

6x75cl

1 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

£677.00

6x75cl

£677.00

1 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

Showing products 2 of 2

We use cookies to give you the best possible experience of our website. If you continue, we’ll assume you’re happy for your web browser to receive all cookies from our website. See our cookie policy for more information on cookies and how to manage them.