WHITE 2009
- 2009 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru white (92-95)
- 2009 Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru white (92-94)
- 2009 Chassagne-Montrachet “Caillerets” 1er white (91-93)
- 2009 Chassagne-Montrachet “Embrazées” 1er white (89-92)
- 2009 Chassagne-Montrachet “La Romanée” 1er white (90-93)
- 2009 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru white (93-95)
- 2009 Corton Blanc Grand Cru white (91-94)
- 2009 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru white (91-94)
- 2009 Corton-Grand Lolières Grand Cru white (90-93)
- 2009 Meursault “Charmes” 1er white (89-92)
- 2009 Meursault “Genevrières” 1er white (91-94)
- 2009 Meursault “Perrières” 1er white (91-94)
- 2009 Meursault “Poruzots” 1er white (90-93)
- 2009 Montrachet - C Grand Cru white (93-96)
- 2009 Montrachet - P Grand Cru white (93-96)
- 2009 Pernand-Vergelesses “Sous Frétille” 1er white (89-91)
- 2009 Puligny-Montrachet “Enseignères” white (89-91)
- 2009 Puligny-Montrachet “Garenne” 1er white (90-92)
- 2009 Puligny-Montrachet “Folatières” 1er white (91-93)
For more detail on Mounir and Rotem Saouma’s views of the 2009 vintage, please see Issue 42 or the database. They noted that none of the whites had been racked and no SO2 added at the time of my February visit. As has been the case in prior vintages, there are two versions of Montrachet, one from the Puligny side and the other from the Chassagne side; the Chassagne cuvée will be denoted as “C” and the Puligny cuvée as “P” on the labels. One other point bears mentioning, which is that the wines always have noticeable residual CO2 in them and thus they should absolutely be decanted.
2009 Pernand-Vergelesses “Sous Frétille”: A heavily reduced nose leads to mineral-infused, racy, intense and precise middle weight flavors that culminate in a presently austere and bone dry finish. This understated and admirably pure effort should reward 4 to 6 years of cellar time. (89-91)/2014+
2009 Meursault “Charmes”: Strong lactic acid aromas presently dominate the nose. By contrast there is good freshness to the clean, delicious, detailed and admirably intense medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent mid-palate concentration that helps to buffer the firm acid spine on the mouth coating, long and attractively energetic finish. This doesn’t quite have the same depth as the best of these Meursault 1ers but it’s not far behind. (89-92)/2015+
2009 Meursault “Poruzots”: An attractively layered nose of green fruit, pear and soft earth aromas leads to powerful, dense and palate coating medium weight plus flavors that offer plenty of dry extract that confers a textured mouth feel to the intense and beautifully persistent finish. This is not an elegant wine but it’s not overtly rustic either. (90-93)/2015+
2009 Meursault “Genevrières”: A curious nose of lactic acid and spice elements merges into naturally sweet, pure and welldetailed flavors that possess superb complexity on the mouth coating, balanced, linear and explosive finish where notes of fennel and wood toast surface. This possesses knockout length and this seems exceptionally promising. (91-94)/2016+
2009 Meursault “Perrières”: A distinctly lactic and leesy nose precedes beautifully balanced, harmonious and chiseled, indeed even crystalline middle weight flavors that possess outstanding length and remarkable tension on the seriously mineral-driven finish. This isn’t quite as complex as the Genevrières but it’s finer and the class of a fine Perrières is clearly on display. A qualitative choice. (91-94)/2016+
2009 Chassagne-Montrachet “Embrazées”: A lactic acid and rather leesy nose gives way to rich yet solidly well-detailed mineral-driven medium-weight flavors that possess excellent verve and fine finishing persistence as well as really lovely intensity. I suspect that this will become much more focused once it is in bottle. (89-92)/2015+
2009 Chassagne-Montrachet “Caillerets”: This is also relatively heavily reduced and thus the nose is impossible to fairly evaluate. By contrast, there is a Zen-like poise and coolness to the mineral-inflected, energetic and impressively layered middle weight flavors that finish with excellent punch, depth and that beguiling underlying sense of tension. (91-93)/2016+
2009 Chassagne-Montrachet “La Romanée”: An interesting nose blends notes of stone, spice and lactic acid that will undoubtedly clean up after a racking. The rich and faintly exotic flavors display discreet mineral notes on the utterly delicious finish that, in contrast to many ‘09s, is exceptionally dry and relatively austere. I quite like this and while the finish is decidedly linear today, this should flesh out with a few years in bottle as that is what a fine La Romanée typically does. (90-93)/2016+
2009 Puligny-Montrachet “Enseignères”: Lactic acid hints detract moderately from the otherwise perfumed and very pretty acacia blossom and citrus aromas that introduce rich and surprisingly powerful flavors imbued with plenty of acid-buffering dry extract that shaped the lemony and explosive finish. This is a very fine villages and worth a look. (89-91)/2014+
2009 Puligny-Montrachet “Garenne”: A pure, elegant and quite floral nose is nuanced by background hints of green apple and lightly spiced pear. There is good richness to the well-detailed, delicious and mouth coating flavors that possess a mineral-inflected and admirably persistent finish. This stylish effort is lovely and very Puligny in character. (90-92)/2016+
2009 Puligny-Montrachet “Folatières”: (from vines of approximately 100 years of age). This is quite ripe for the appellation though there are no hints of surmaturité to the aromas of apricot, white peach, pear and wet stone notes that carry over to the rich if moderately austere flavors, all wrapped in a complex, long and impressively persistent finish. I very much like the overall sense of balance and harmony here. (91-93)/2016+
2009 Corton Blanc: This is clearly quite ripe because despite the presence of strong lactic acid and leesy aromas, the orchard fruit aromas are easy to detect. There is an opulence and succulence to the big-bodied, powerful and concentrated flavors that possess plenty of supporting extract as well as a firm, and sculpting, acid spine on the stony, long and palate drenching finish that delivers unusually good precision for the appellation. This is a borderline massive wine yet there is nothing ponderous about it;, just don’t expect much in the way of finesse or refinement. (91-94)/2017+
2009 Corton-Grand Lolières: Here the nose is completely clean with a highly complex array of fennel, white flowers, green apple and ripe pear that introduces detailed, pure and wonderfully stony broad-shouldered flavors that aren’t quite as precise but they are finer on the driving and mouth coating finish. This is impressive, especially for a Corton that one almost never sees made as a white, and I’m looking forward to seeing this as it ages. (90-93)/2016+
2009 Corton-Charlemagne: (from vines in Pernand). An extremely fresh nose of dried rose petal, green apple and spiced pear trimmed in oak toast hints leads to intensely stony, precise and classy big-bodied flavors that possess excellent definition on the attractively sappy finish that really coats the palate while lingering admirably. This is not as dense as the Corton Blanc but not surprisingly, it is more refined and displays impeccable balance. (91-94)/2017+
2009 Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet: Strong lactic aromas don’t completely hide the underlying notes of honeysuckle and citrus that are in keeping with the honeyed and extremely rich, generous and seductively textured flavors that possess outstanding depth and length. I like the balance and this possesses good verve thanks to the firm acid spine. (92-94)/2017+
2009 Bâtard-Montrachet: (from Chassagne vines). An almost invisible trace of wood highlights a similar nose of lactic aromas, honeysuckle, citrus and orchard fruit nuances that slide seamlessly into more obviously powerful medium full-bodied flavors that are at once generous yet detailed with excellent volume, size and weight on the round, naturally sweet and mouth coating finish. This is a big but impeccably well-balanced wine that delivers its power with control and grace. (92-95)/2017+
2009 Chevalier-Montrachet: As one might reasonably expect, this is notably more elegant with its pure, airy and highly complex nose of acacia, stone, citrus and discreet wood influence. The racy, intense and almost painfully intense flavors possess crystalline transparency as well as plenty of that wonderful underlying tension that imparts a real sense of vibrancy onto the driving, long and linear finish. This is one classy wine and should prove to be remarkably long-lived within the context of the vintage. (93-95)/2019+
2009 Montrachet - P: (from the Puligny side). This is almost as elegant and refined aromatically as the Chevalier with a gorgeous and highly layered nose of flowers, citrus, spiced pear, apricot and white peach giving way to rich, full and very serious flavors that are overtly well-muscled and blessed with an abundance of dry extract that completely drenches the palate on the intense and faultlessly well-balanced finish. Like the Bâtard, this should provide a superb drinking experience in 10 to 15 years as the imposing size and weight is exquisitely delivered. (93-96)/2021+
2009 Montrachet - C: (from the Chassagne side). Comparing this with its Puligny counterpart engenders a real contrast in styles as this is notably more powerful and robust with massive flavors that possess even more size and weight but not the same finesse and refinement, particularly on the borderline painfully intense, backwards and austere finish. Personally, I slightly prefer the “P” but those who admire power white burgundy would be more likely to endorse the C as their favorite. Either way, at this early stage it’s a qualitative push and frankly, you couldn’t lose no matter which is chosen. (93-96)/2023+
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