2015 Le Montrachet
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Montrachet Grand Cru from Etienne Sauzet is just missing a little delineation and precision on the nose, where the oak barrels are too vocal, drowning out the terroir expression you want from a Montrachet. The palate is better, with wonderful balance and fine concentration, though it does not quite deliver the mineralité or tension I seek on the finish. I wonder where this will go in the future.
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Average Score
Neal Martin
Allen Meadows, Burghound
More reviews and scores
Bright, light yellow. Discreet nose offers scents of flowers and iodiney minerality; not at all exotic for Montrachet from a warm, sunny year. Then superripe and rich on the palate, conveying an almost oily concentration to its flavors of ripe apricot and mandarin orange enlivened by brisk citrus notes. With two grams per liter residual sugar, this wonderfully smooth, seamless wine comes across as deceptively easygoing. There's nothing austere about this beauty, which finishes with slowly mounting length.
The 2015 Montrachet Grand Cru, which comes from purchased fruit from the Chassagne side, was taken from barrel since it underwent a very slow malolactic fermentation according to winemaker Benîot Riffault. To be honest, it has a hard time following the Chevalier Montrachet, not nearly as expressive and without the mineralité shown by the vines located further up in the incline. The palate is actually more expressive with very fine tension, quite intense with palpable salinity, with a sense of energy. There is genuine weight and presence on the finish here and the aftertaste is very long, yet the action seems to reside with the Chevalier-Montrachet this season.
The 2015 Montrachet Grand Cru, which comes from purchased fruit from the Chassagne side, was taken from barrel since it underwent a very slow malolactic fermentation according to winemaker Benîot Riffault. To be honest, it has a hard time following the Chevalier Montrachet, not nearly as expressive and without the mineralité shown by the vines located further up in the incline. The palate is actually more expressive with very fine tension, quite intense with palpable salinity, with a sense of energy. There is genuine weight and presence on the finish here and the aftertaste is very long, yet the action seems to reside with the Chevalier-Montrachet this season. Dec 2016, www.robertparker.com, Drink: 2019-2033