2013 Batard Montrachet

Inviting creamy oatmeal aroma. Pure and driving across the palate but with only moderate concentration in the middle and on the finish. (JH)

There are just 1½ barrels of the 2013 Batard Montrachet Grand Cru this year. It has an austere bouquet just like the Bâtard-Montrachet, but then opens gloriously with marine scents - shucked oyster shells, cockles and seaweed permeating the citrus fruit. The palate is very well balanced with a keen line acidity, intense citrus peel intermingling with nectarine and orange rind. It fans out wonderfully on the dense, mineral-laden finish - one of the best Montrachet's of the vintage. Céline Gagnard managed to find time in her busy schedule to see me. She is presently handling two newborns: her 2014 vintage and more importantly her baby. Céline's no nonsense views, her passion, candor and that rare commodity, humor, always make this one of the most enjoyable visits. We exchanged my own misguided parenting tips for her refreshingly candid experience of the 2013 vintage. "It was important to control the botrytis, especially for the whites," she began. "Each year we apply three treatments (culture raisonée) and this made a difference compared to some of our neighbors that only did two treatments during the season. In May, I was stressed. It is a period when you had a big mildew pressure and you risk losing many grapes. We went into Beaune and queued up to be on the list for the helicopter [in order to spray the vines against rot]. Fortunately, Chassagne was the first on the list. We hanged the bags on our rows to be sprayed but finally we decided to hand spray the vines ourselves. My father could do a few plots at the top [of the slope] by tractor but not the lower reaches. During two days four men sprayed 8 hectares and my father bought them a picnic. They lost 7kg and 10kg in weight in a single month! Every morning I could see another tractor stuck on the mud. We did a bit of effeuillage...that also helped. For 2013, we harvested 28 September and over the next seven days. We were very happy when we finished the harvest as the production was around the same quantity as 2011, except for Volnay and Pommard." When I visited in late November, the reds were still in barrel while all the whites had been bottled. There are really splendid wines at this address. As I have mentioned in recent reports they tend to be a little weightier in style due to the higher use of new oak, although it is well managed and rarely dominates the wine. I would hone in on their top Premier Cru vineyards in Chassagne such as Ruchottes, Morgeot and La Grande Montagne. If you can find their Grand Crus then congratulations: they are outstanding, but made in tiny amounts. The reds are also worth looking out for. While they suffered a little on the plain, the Volnay Clos des Chêne is an absolute peach.

The 2013 Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru has a much more austere bouquet than the Criots: stubborn and standoffish at the moment. The palate is well balanced with light peach, tangerine and lemon curd notes, the new oak (one-third) nicely integrated and rounding out the tensile finish that displays superb salinity. The more this stays in the glass, the better it becomes. Superb.