2010 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet Maltroie 1er Cru

The 2010 Chassagne-Montrachet La Maltroie comes across as soft, delicate and polished. Sweet honeyed tones give the fruit a veil of richness and generosity that stands out in this range. Dried pears, hazelnuts and spices flesh out on the sweet, inviting finish. This is a very beautiful Chassagne in a range full of great, great wines.

The 2010 Chassagne-Montrachet La Maltroie comes across as soft, delicate and polished. Sweet honeyed tones give the fruit a veil of richness and generosity that stands out in this range. Dried pears, hazelnuts and spices flesh out on the sweet, inviting finish. This is a very beautiful Chassagne in a range full of great, great wines. Anticipated maturity: 2012+. I was deeply impressed with the wines I tasted at Fontaine-Gagnard. The 2010s are rich, deep and racy, but also show tremendous transparency with regards to site and have a little more polish than is customary. Celine Fontaine told me she was very surprised by the concentration of the wines given the poor weather during the summer, but that, ultimately, it was the small size of the berries that played a big role in giving the wines their personalities. The harvest started on September 21. All of the 2010s were bottled in August 2011. Although I did not taste any of the reds, Fontaine also told me a number of the estate’s Pinot vineyards were heavily affected by the December 2009 frost and required replanting. Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404, Jeffrey Wellburn Selections, Van Nuys, CA; tel. (818) 780-4446

Quite pungent and attention-grabbing! But a bit sweet and chunky overall. (JR)