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Ramonet Montrachet Lunch
Phoenix, AZ USA
Tasted July 30, 2021 by Alex G. with 204 views
Introduction
I feel enormously grateful to have participated in this extraordinary event. With the price and rarity of these wines, this may well be the last extensive Ramonet Montrachet tasting we ever do. My notes can't do justice to these wines, but hopefully they'll be helpful to some.
All Ramonet wines were served single-blind -- i.e. we knew the field, but none of us knew the order. It was quite humbling, with many vintages drinking older or younger than we would have expected.
Flight 1 (1 note)
White - Sparkling
1988 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut
Dark color, secondary and tertiary notes. Nevertheless, it retains fruit and is a serious and complex wine. Great showing today.
Flight 2 (3 notes)
White
2011 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Massive aromas, dark-ish color, exciting and thrilling on the aromas alone. Rich mouthfeel with more viscosity than the two other Ramonet Montrachet wines in the flight. Some oak spice on the finish. All in all, a lovely wine.
Not one person guessed this vintage correctly, most including myself were thinking 09. Blind tasting is humbling indeed...
Not one person guessed this vintage correctly, most including myself were thinking 09. Blind tasting is humbling indeed...
White
2015 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
Lightest color of the flight, less viscosity than the previous wine. More youthful with a looooong finish. Light and airy this glides across the palate. Slight bitterness on the finish, typical of younger vintages, so it wasn't too surprising that this was the youngest vintage upon the reveal.
White
2009 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Darkest color, ripe juicy fruit. Finishes a bit broad with less focus and intensity than the other wines. Delicious nevertheless.
The reveal was surprising, this seems a bit advanced for 12 year old Montrachet, but may well be representative of the aging curve for this vintage.
The reveal was surprising, this seems a bit advanced for 12 year old Montrachet, but may well be representative of the aging curve for this vintage.
Flight 3 (4 notes)
White
2011 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet
Lights out! Juicy tropical fruit on the attack with a massively powerful saline finish. A denser mouthfeel with more viscosity than any of the Ramonet wines. This is the total package, power with focus.
It's like a combination of the body and intensity of a great mature vintage of Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne, but with Montrachet clarity. Supremely impressive, and an instructive contrast to the Ramonet style - this is yang to the Ramonet's yin.
It's like a combination of the body and intensity of a great mature vintage of Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne, but with Montrachet clarity. Supremely impressive, and an instructive contrast to the Ramonet style - this is yang to the Ramonet's yin.
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White
2004 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Exceptional balance, some tropical notes. Surprised on the reveal this was drinking much younger than I would have expected for '04. Well stored bottles like this could easily keep improving for a decade.
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White
2012 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Clean and precise aroma, exceptional balance, a complete wine with a memorable mineral finish that glides across the palate.
Flight 4 (2 notes)
White
2013 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Crisp mouthfeel, some tropical fruit. There's more oak here than I'd prefer; it's not overwhelming, but this will be better with some more time to integrate it.
Flight 5 (2 notes)
White
2007 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Rich and tropical, served blind and quite a few of us weren't even sure this was on theme. It came across as broad and less precise than the other wines today, a shocking reveal.
White
2006 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
Ripe fruit on the attack, intensely mineral and very long finish. A very serious wine, and a great showing. Not a surprise on the reveal.
Crazy and embarrassing as this is, this is the third time I have had this wine in a month. Each bottle has been consistently excellent, '06 was a strong vintage for Ramonet.
Crazy and embarrassing as this is, this is the third time I have had this wine in a month. Each bottle has been consistently excellent, '06 was a strong vintage for Ramonet.
Flight 6 (3 notes)
Red
1997 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Romanée St. Vivant
Served blind, bricking showed substantial age but the fruit remains in tact and there's lovely spice.
Red
2012 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Richebourg
From restaurant list, and even with a decant and time in the glass this was so backward and inaccessible. One can sense the potential here, and in 20 years this will be epic. This should be buried deep in the cellar and forgotten about, it's a real shame to drink now.
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Red
2016 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin
In stark contrast to '12 Meo Richebourg, this wine was generous and accessible after a brief decant. The depth of fruit was remarkable, and the fine filigree evident even at this youthful age. I presume we caught this in a window before it shuts down, clearly there's material here to age for decades. I would be thrilled to taste this again in 15-25 years.
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