11 Montrachet Grand Crus and 4 Montrachet GC Neighbors

E&R just continues to outdo themselves on their 15th anniversary tasting events. Who knows, this may be the only time in my life I get to drink 11 Montrachet's side by side. These aren't wines I open every day, so there was no way I'd miss tonight. While some of my favorites were obvious, I was also quite surprised by the showings (both good and bad) of some favorites and unknowns to me. An amazing event by the E&R team, with several national writers in attendance, and others flying in for the tasting. These wines may not win any QPR awards, but the palate and finish elegance is tough to argue with.

• 2011 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Aromas were rich, offering a buttery spice. Quite zippy minerality, and really nice, rich minerals. Lovely, soft palate entry with smooth texture. Beautiful from the get go, so soft and elegantly balanced. Just love the texture of this wine. Huge impact of intense minerality on the finish, but then this softens and really opens up gracefully, like a beautiful flower. So lovely. I love this creamy intensity that lingers gracefully but with fantastic impact. Killer finish that just grows and grows, lingering for well over a minute. Awesome evolution.

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• 2001 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Perhaps the darkest colored wine of the night. Fairly mellow aromas, showing some soft, creamy aromatic texture, but it's pretty light. Light spice, light lemon, and again light oak spice. The palate is rich and slightly buttery with mellow lemon rind coming in. Soft, but chunky in texture as it's moved around in the mouth. Pretty straight forward palate. Rich acid attacks on the finish, which blossoms more than expected from the lackadaisical nose and palate. Really wonderful with some minerals and slightly metallic notion coming in. Rich acids and minerals linger long. Quite tart. Really lovely finish, which saves this otherwise fairly standard wine.

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• 2000 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Rich and spicy aromas with a heavy lemon pepper note and some oak spice, which is a little funky. Rich and chunky palate texture with a round, oaky profile and a little lean in flavor. Heavy oak spice on the tart finish, but there's some creaminess lingering that's nice. Really rich and soft, with tart notes of oak. Leaves the palate puckering.

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• 1992 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Interesting character on the nose, which seemed like fish sauce... perhaps an oyster sauce from a teriyaki joint. Creamy and luscious smelling, but a little odd for sure. Nice richness on the palate, which offers a lovely seductive texture with moderate funky tartness. Rich body. Soft, blossoming finish and feels really dry and coating. Lacking a bit in complex flavors on the palate and finish, but the wine had a nice presence to it.

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• 2010 Louis Jadot Montrachet 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Very light color. Beautiful aromas, but fairly light... one must pay attention and you ca pick out very pretty notes of light dried leafs and a candied lemon rind. Elegant, but quiet and smooth. Lovely palate entry. Really soft and mellow, but lovely and elegant texture. I get more of that sour candied lemon skin. Very fresh on the palate, but tight. Lovely lingering notes on the finish. Tart and mellow, but at the same time it has an intense presence that lingers long. Very nice. After a while this tart, puckering notion over takes. Really voluminous. Lovely, but needs a few years.

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• 2007 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Le Montrachet 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Slight metallic notion on the nose, which overall is fairly light, soft, and smooth. Pretty mellow. Rich soft palate entry, but again a little quiet. Soft and tight, with some lemon custard notes coming in as its held on the palate. Light bits of metal as well. The finish though is pretty killer... really lovely and soft notes come in slowly, leaving the mouth puckering... it's so mellow. This wine whispers, but it whispers love. That tart puckering note is not your usual one. It's so elegant and pretty. Just awesome opening that kicks the enjoyment up several notches...

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• 2005 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  This wine should be rocking and it wasn't. The aromas were very soft and muted. Like a wet bowling ball with lane oil on it. The palate definitely expresses some oxidative qualities, tasting of a browned apple core/seed. Pretty soft and not showing much else. Quite mute on the finish as well, primarily just being puckering and some light melon notes. Coming back to the nose now, I smell some oxidative notes here, too.

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• 2005 Frédéric Magnien Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Very expansive aromas, but nothing particularly protruding... it is lovely, though. Beautiful palate flavors on a texture that's a little chunky. The flavors are amazingly red fruited, and they are intense. Notes that are very pure, penetrating and odd (though in a good way, with the red fruit). Love the palate impression. Initially this is quiet on the finish but then there's this lovely opening of fantastic acidity. Quite nice, leaving the mouth rather dry, puckering and gritty.

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• 2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Fairly mute aromas. The palate is soft but a little chunky texturally. Very tart notes with puckering, vibrant acidity. Really soft and rich, long and heavy duty. The finish is nice and lingering, but not offering much in the way of depth. Puckering notes linger long, which is pretty intense and dialed up as it lingers. Still not much depth, but it's still pretty.

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• 2005 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Le Montrachet 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Wow, absolutely beautiful nose. The most impressive and beautiful of the night. Really lovely and evolving notes, as every time I put my nose to the glass it goes somewhere different. Really beautiful. The palate enters the same, with a beautiful softness. Elegant and penetrating intensity that leaves a wonderful impression on the palate. Totally beautiful. Incredible depth on the finish as well. What a complete wine! Wonderfully balanced while still being a little tight and puckering. It evolves for a crazy amount of time on the elegant finish. A real winner.

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• 2004 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Le Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Quite a different wine from the 2005. The aromas are softer and lighter than the '05, with some slight green notes. Soft palate entry, with a creamy, chunky texture, without quite the complexity of the '05. Still very rich, offering nice lemon notes coupled with some good minerality. Nice blossoming finish, which really opens up beautifully, and surprisingly considering the palate. Lovely puckering notes linger, but they are particularly graceful. Nice tartness. Really wonderful on the finish.

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• 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Darker color. Luscious, creamy gunpowder note on the nose, which is puckering already. Despite the tartness it has an overall impression of darkness on the nose. Chunky palate texture is immediate on entry, but the completeness of the palate is impressive. Very smooth and quite beautiful, offering tart, soft pretty notes of wonderful balance. Beautiful eruption on the finish, but then this really begins showing an elegant side that's wonderful. Tart, but the way this blooms in its intensity after finishing is incredible. Kick ass acid. Really lovely stuff.

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• 2000 Henri Boillot Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  I was very surprised how this wine was showing, as Henri Boillot is one of my favorite producers and I expected this to contend for wine of the night. It smelled rich, a little bit like a burned kettle corn.The palate was soft, with lean driving minerality; tart and puckering, but still some beautiful elegance. Could this have some slight hint of premox? The finish is tart, showing that same burnt kettle corn. It's puckering as it leaves the palate, but the acid is driving hard. I'd score this around 90 points, but I'm unsure of this one so I'll leave that field empty...

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• 1995 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Rich, tart, and beautiful puckering aromas. Quite deep and wonderful. This wine's nose stood out from the crowd all night long and demanded you smell it. Very lovely. Awesome softness on palate entry, offering some rich apple sauce notes. Sweet and smooth. Tart, but quite soft, offering some slightly oxidized apple note. Smooth and rich. The finish is really puckering, but beautiful, as thee texture in your mouth gets really intensee. Wonderful richness on the finish, which lingers and coats the palate in a unique way after it's left your mouth. Really soft and pretty.

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• 1990 Louis Jadot Le Montrachet 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Slightly buttery notes on the nose. Smells tart, with some candied notes. It's like you took the edge of a burned pop corn kernel and covered it in caramel. The palate is rich and soft, tart and puckering, with a pretty mild intensity. Some spice and buttery note. Soft, puckering finish which is quite lean. Moderate lingering acidity, but this is pretty smooth and soft at this stage.

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