2021 Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru Domaine Bachelet-Monnot

Pale lemon yellow. An immediate class here, the fruit showing its intensity beneath a lightly reductive covering. Class, purity and even intensity, this Bâtard of which alas there is but a single barrel, ticks all the boxes. A lemongrass note adds a touch of complexity to a brilliantly pure white fruit palate. Great persistence. For the mediu, plus term, but a gorgeous wine in the making. Alexandre tells me that his brother Marc thinks that this is one of their best ever! He may be right.

The 2021 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, which is one of the first picked to capture the acidity, comprises just one barrel this year (one year old). It has a very intense bouquet, quite mineral-driven with limestone and sea spray scents, just a subtle reduction on the background. The palate has exquisite balance, fresh on the entry, rather deep with plenty of substance and slightly pithy towards the finish. There is a lot in this Bâtard-Montrachet, and it has impressive persistence. This is one of the standouts from the Grand Cru in this traumatic season - some achievement.

(from a .1464-ha parcel on the Puligny side planted to the equivalent of a 15,000 vines per hectare density; the wine sees no new wood and is aged in 1 and 2-year-old 350-liter barrels). Firm reduction. The denser and more powerful broad-shouldered flavors possess almost painful intensity while retaining excellent delineation on the moderately austere, harmonious and compact finale that exhibits outstanding length. This is packed with upside development potential and is a wine that’s going to need at least 6 to 8 years of patience and should amply reward 12 to 15.