2009 Lucien Le Moine Montrachet Grand Cru

(from vines in Chassagne-Montrachet): Pale, bright yellow. Laid-back nose hints at peach and white flowers. Tighter and less obviously sweet than the "P", delivering great intensity without excess weight. Sappy fruit is complicated by a peaty, iodiney quality. A wine of great clarity and class, with a gripping, precise finish that builds inexorably. Saouma blended his two cuvees of Montrachet in 2005 and 2008 but bottled them separately in 2007. In 2009, the two wines are completely different, and the blend is less interesting than the two wines on their own, he adds.

The 2009 Montrachet C (Chassagne) is another fat, rich wine loaded with exotic, tropical fruit. It blossoms considerably on the mid-palate, showing tons of volume and creaminess. The oak is quite present, but not at all intrusive, as all of the elements marry very nicely here. Hints of smokiness wrap around the warm finish. This is impressive. The Montrachet C emerges from a plot on the Chassagne side, while the Montrachet P is sourced from a plot on the Puligny side. The two wines will be bottled separately. Anticipated maturity: 2016+. This is another stunning set of wines from proprietors Mounir Saouma and Rotem Brakim. Saouma and Brakim practice some of the most risk-taking winemaking in Burgundy, especially with regards to elevage. The wines see extended aging on the lees with minimal sulfur. I tasted the 2009s in late June 2011. At the time the wines had never been racked. Readers should note that I accidentally omitted a number of wines from my reviews of the estate’s 2009 reds, in particular the wines from Vosne-Romanee. Those notes are now posted on the site. My tasting concluded with two wines served blind. These turned out to be two 2004 Meursaults. The first wine was made with a pneumatic press and aged with 4 liters of lees per barrel, the second wine was made with a mechanical press and went into barrel with 8 liters of lees. Both wines were aged 18 months and bottled by hand. As it turns out, wine #2 was considerably fresher and much more nuanced than wine #1. Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (919) 769-3000

(almost finished with its malo) Knockout nose offers white truffle, lavender, complex brown spices, iodine and subtle soil tones. Wonderfully suave, dry and classic but extremely backward and discreet today, offering a texture of pure silk. This virtually weightless grand cru saturates every millimeter of the palate and leaves the mouth quivering. An incredible wine in the making but by no means a big boy.