Le Montrachet
Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France
The Chardonnay cru to eclipse all Chardonnay crus, Le Montrachet – or simply Montrachet – was made an appellation in 1937. This most prized of Grand Cru vineyards is situated between the villages of Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet, in the Côte de Beaune sub-region of Burgundy.
The soil in Le Montrachet’s 7.99ha is particularly chalky, with plenty of stones (good for drainage, yield control and root development) and the presence of marl promoting acid retention and longer ripening of the grapes. Add to these factors the vineyard’s perfect sun-catching south-easterly exposition and the net result is Chardonnays wines of a slightly profounder register than those of neighbouring crus.
As Jancis Robinson MW has noted: “At its incomparable best it has (given 10 years) more scent, a brighter gold, a longer flavour, more succulence and yet more density than any Chardonnay on earth; everything about it is intensified.”
