Bâtard-Montrachet
Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France
Located directly below the vineyard of Le Montrachet at the base of the Montrachet hill, the Grand Cru of Bâtard-Montrachet in fact bisects the villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. Because Bâtard lies on deeper, more clay-dominant soil than Le Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet, its Chardonnays are often rounder than those of its Grands Crus neighbours, and do not possess quite the same level of finesse. They are nevertheless some of the most profound and ageworthy Chardonnays that money can buy.
The name ‘Bâtard-Montrachet’ is a reference to the historical division of the vineyards of a local nobleman, the Seigneur de Puligny, who bequeathed his holdings three ways: the vineyards taking the name ‘Chevalier’ were left to his eldest son; those taking the name ‘Bâtard’ to his illegitimate, or bastard, son; and those taking the name ‘Les Pucelles’ (‘the maidens’) to his daughters.
