A Survey of 2008 Chassagne Montrachet

Beltramo's, Menlo Park
Tasted Saturday, June 4, 2011 by drwine2001 with 618 views

Introduction

This series provided an excellent overview to this commune in 2008.

Flight 1 (9 Notes)

  • 2008 Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

    Musky citrus, grapefruit. Really beautifully fragrant, very Chassagne. Light and lean with a kiss of wood. Gentle wine perhaps lacking some cut, but good citric finish, good length. Above class for a village wine.

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  • 2008 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Boudriotte

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Herbal, lime aromatic profile. Fairly big and glossy with background orange fruit subservient to strong vanillin notes. Duller and lower acid than most of the other wines. Nice intensity and material, but wood overtakes everything else on both the nose and the palate and is especially prominent on the finish. The balance here is not convincing.

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  • 2008 Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos du Château de la Maltroye

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Gorgeous, scintillating floral high tones. Light and full of zip with both the fruit and acidity gaining traction over time. Unfortunately, all of this excitement is cut short by a blast of toasty oak on the end which swamps the refined character and weight of the wine. Too bad since it starts out so promisingly.

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  • 2008 Bruno Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Bright orange peel on the nose that carries through to the palate with a soupcon of bitters and zesty acidity. Delicate, precise and detailed with great impact for its light weight. Long, mineral finish. Exquisite and one of my favorites today.

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  • 2008 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Citrus and flowers. Light and delicate in style, neither fruit nor wood driven. Absolutely lovely, well balanced and long with the most vibrant acidity of the 5 wines tasted to this point. Another winner.

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  • 2008 Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Attractive lower pitched nose of orange oil rather than peel. Big and rich-this was the only wine of the group that approached Grand Cru weight and feel, having a creamy, lactic layering that none of the other Premier Crus possessed. Tremendous minerality and acidity that bores into your brain. Subtle touch of wood. Fantastic, young and reasonably priced for what is in the bottle. This stood above everything else.

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  • 2008 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Citrus and some oak. Weighty and viscous but I'm afraid that much of this is artifice imparted by the wood. Tremendous acidity but the finish is literally awash in toasty oak and soon becomes attenuated. Aftertaste of wood tannins. As clumsy as the Philippe Colin Premier Cru is deft. By the way, did I mention that this comes across as too woody?

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  • 2008 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Different aromatics with more sulfur apparent. Lushly textural with gripping acidity. Here you feel more than taste the wood, but it becomes increasingly obtrusive on the finish. Serious stuff with Grand Cru aspirations and treatment, but in the end, out of balance.

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  • 2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Fascinating, very complex aromatics-ethereal, high toned citrus and herbs and an almost distilled, volatile quality. Powerful, intense citrus, medium weight. Again, as it opens a distinct vanilla cream quality asserts itself, although the wood is not as offputting as it is in several of the other wines. There is a lot to like in this wine, but I wonder how it will evolve over time (i.e., will the oak wind up submerging all that is good?).

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Closing

A few generalizations. First, I loved sniffing my way through these wines. Virtually all of them had typical, very transparent Chassagne character. Second, the core acidity of the vintage came through beautifully-no blowsy, overblown wines in this cohort. As an oak averse taster/drinker, my preferences tended to the more delicate, less gussied up examples, but I thought the quality was very high across the board. Philippe Colin's village wine and Vergers both deserve special praise.

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