Domaine Borgeot Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru 'Chenevottes' 2022
The Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Chenevottes', located east of the village and not far from grand cru Montrachet, is a complex vineyard, made up of light soils that are easy to cultivate on a mild slope with good exposure. What you get is a wine that is extremely bright with citric acidity and floral aromas that are finely chiseled, and with a concentration that finishes long and intense.
Domaine Borgeot
We remember the exact day that we met Pascal Borgeot. It was January 28 1989. There’s a poster on our wall to mark the occasion. Not the meeting, but the day.
It was a frigid Saturday in Santenay, and the village was festooned in paper flowers to celebrate the feast of the St. Vincent Tournante, a Burgundian tradition honoring the patron saint of winemakers. The festival changes village every year, and the Burgundians take it very seriously, working for much of the year leading up to the event in preparation.
Pascal was 29, and building a small domain in the village of Remigny. He was fixing up an old winemaker’s house that backs onto the Canal du Centre in one of the most beautiful spots in the Cote d’Or.
We were running our hotel-barge Papillon at the time, so we knew lots of people in the barge world. And some of them knew Pascal, because they had moored their barge just behind his house and did wine tastings there with their passengers. So on St. Vincent day, we were taken by friends to meet the Borgeots for the first time.
Since then, over the years, their wines have held pride of place on our lists, both in red and white. And their touch with white Burgundy from the ‘golden triangle’ of Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Meursault is among the most delicate you will find. Don’t look for oak and buttered toast. Borgeot wines are floral and lemony in their youth, with spice and honey-drops as they develop.
The Borgeot brothers, Pascal and Laurent, are fourth generation winemakers. The future is also bright for this Domaine with the introduction of the talented Julia Borgeot, Pascals daughter. We knew Julia as a small child and now as an impressive vigneron in her own right. Exciting times ahead!!
Their village Remigny is in the departement of Saone et Loire, so they are not in the Cote d’Or phone book, a source of eternal consternation for them, especially with the village of Santenay in site across the fields. Together, they work 48 acres of vines, half in red, half in white. The majority of these vines are 30 years old or older, with parcels of Santenay ‘Les Gravieres’ and Santenay ‘Vieilles Vignes’ older than 50 years. For over twenty years, their vines have received only organic fertilizers. They work the soil in winter to keep down weeds and increase micro-bacteriological activity. Where they have replanted, they have chosen strains of vines that are low yielding. All of these policies are aimed at bringing the harvest to full and perfect maturity as often as possible.
PRINCIPLES
The fact that the Borgeot brothers use only organic fertilizers, pay close attention to soil conditions and strive to limit vine yields naturally shows a primary concern for the health of the grape crop. Without this, no amount of winemaking skill, technology or special equipment can produce great wine. This said, the brothers are perfectionists, and every step in the winemaking process is carefully studied. The excellent quality of their harvest is brought to its potential using traditional methods and modern understanding.
The Domain Borgeot that Pascal and Laurent Borgeot founded in 1985 with a few key parcels of Santenay vines that they inherited from their father, has grown into one of the most respected wineries in the Cote de Beaune. Through clever vineyard acquisition and investment, they now have an impressive list of ‘appellations’ and with a modern micro-negoce alongside, are able to propose their wines for export. Their reputation locally, however, is such that more-famous producers often send their children to apprentice at the domain.
VINIFICATION
During the harvest, the principle aim is to bring the fruit to the winery intact. When ripeness has been assured, individual parcels are picked by hand, and the grapes are sorted on a moving belt before being put into fermentation tanks. Handpicking and sorting avoids unnecessary stems and leaves getting into the crush. The harvest is then completely destemmed, again to avoid green tannins from stems and vegetation. Vinification is ‘traditional’, meaning cold maceration for 10 to 12 days leading up to fermentation.
The classic ‘floating cap’ is pumped over and punched down twice a day. A modern pneumatic press and temperature control equipment play an essential role in the outcome of the wine. The goal is to preserve the fruitiness of the harvest, while bringing out the individual minerality of the various parcels. All of the wine, except the Aligote, is oak-aged, the amount of oak and the age of the barrels depends on the wine and the vintage (25% new oak is average). After a light filtration, the wines are estate-bottled under anaerobic conditions.
BURGUNDY 2022 VINTAGE
After three successive high-quality but low-quantity vintages, winemakers in Burgundy are refilling their cellars with an excellent 2022 harvest.This is not to say that it was an easy ride. Once again, frost, heat and drought put stress on the growing season, but timing is everything, and the extreme weather did much less damage than in previous years.
Winters have been wet and mild for years now. The winter of 2021-22 was not, with less than average rainfall and seasonal temperatures. Under these ‘normal’ conditions, we would expect budburst in the first half of April. But summer-like conditions at the end of March forced the vines, especially Chardonnay, to bud early, and we went into frost season with tender green buds exposed. There were two nights in the coming week below zero, but damage was limited.
Spring conditions set in in mid-April, but Summer followed soon thereafter, dry with spiky heat waves. The vines went wild. Winemakers fought to keep the growth under control. And the fight continued until flowering, which happened a couple of weeks early in mid-May.
The warm, dry conditions led to nearly-perfect flowering. We saw for the first time the potential of a great crop, with lots of beautiful, full, well-formed grape bunches; and an early harvest, with fruit setting well ahead of schedule.
But the drought held, and the fear was that this beautiful fruit would shrivel on the vine. Finally, at the end of June, the rain came. Summer storms bring with them the risk of hail, so all eyes were on the sky as the storms were sometimes violent causing significant but limited hail damage. The rains were intermittent, but regular for the next weeks. The cumulative rainfall would not be enough to see the crop through to harvest, however.
The heat waves continued through the rains, and so the risk of fungal disease, usually associated with wet conditions, dried up. But temperatures spiked and dry conditions set in again. The grapes ripened in a full-blown heat wave. Winemakers had to keep a close eye on sugar levels, as the risk was that ripeness could gallop away at the last minute.
And then, just about the time when it looked like an over-ripe mid-August harvest was imminent, it rained again. And the producers were able to let that water absorb into the fruit, increasing the volume of juice that was ultimately harvested in the first week of September.
2022, both white and red, are showing real depth and ripeness. And while there was once again very little malic acid, the tartaric acid holds the balance and structure together. Early tastings in the barrel show enormous charm and vitality. Very promising.
CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET
COTE DE BEAUNE
In the very south of the Côte de Beaune. Chassagne-Montrachet is one of the triumvirate in the 'golden traingle' of white Burgundy (with Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault). The broad hillside that it shares with Puligny brings out an extraordinary expression of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In Chassagne, they are grown side by side, such is the complexity of the terroir. The zone includes some plots in the neighboring village of Remigny which shares the same soil conditions. Extensive marble quarries which form a cliff face in the vineyards, are the source of the stone that went into the building of the Trocadero in Paris and more recently the Louvre Pyramid.
Produced in the communes of Chassagne-Montrachet and Remigny, the appellation Chassagne-Montrachet includes 55 premiers crus.
The commune of Chassagne-Montrachet also produces 3 grands crus:
Le Montrachet
Batard-Montrachet
Criots-Batard-Montrachet
Wines
White Chassagne Montrachet can be one of the world's great Chardonnays. At its best it is glittering gold with hints of green. Aromas of honeysuckle and hazelnut with a citrus acidity in youth. Deep, smokey gun-flint minerality. Notes of honey and fleshy pear. Luscious attack, round and decadent with the minerality carrying the mid-palate through to a long finish.
Red Chassagne Montrachet (sadly more and more rare in the shadow of white Chassagne's popularity) can have one of the most beautiful and brilliant robes of all of the Cote de Beaune. The nose is cherry and nutty cherry pit with spicy notes and Pinot savagery with age. There can be great substance to a Chassagne red, a depth that can be overlooked because of the prettiness of the fruit. Young tannins can be austere, or at least used to be. The modern Chassagne red tends to be more fruit forward and open.
Terroirs
At altitudes between 220 and 325 meters, the succession of rocks from the top down is first rauracien then callovien and finally argovien. The soil of the various climats range from pebbly limestone, through marls, to sandy soils with a Jurassic basis.
Color
White wines - Chardonnay
Red wines - Pinot Noir
Production surface area
1 hectare (ha) = 2.4 acres
Whites : 187.16 ha (including 116.60 ha premier cru)
Reds : 114.27 ha (including 33.43 ha Premier Cru)
Food
The opulence and power of the whites work well with delicate white meats such as poultry or veal. Fish, either in well-spiced couscous or in curries or stir-fries, are also well-suited. Salmon, in itself highly aromatic, works particularly well. The premiers crus will complement crayfish, lobster, or even foie gras.
Chassagne reds can be powerful, despite the first impression of freshness and fruit. This makes it a good match with quality cuts of meat such as grilled or roast lamb, grilled pork and spicy meat dishes in general. The premier crus can go to game birds.
Appellations
The following climats are classified premier cru:
Abbaye de Morgeot
Blanchot dessus
Bois de Chassagne
Cailleret
Champs Jendreau
Chassagne
Chassagne du Clos Saint-Jean
Clos Chareau
Clos Pitois
Clos Saint-Jean
Dent de Chien
En Cailleret
En Remilly
En Virondot
Ez Crets
Ez Crottes
Francemont
Guerchère
La Boudriotte
La Cardeuse
La Chapelle
La Grande Borne
La Grande Montagne
La Maltroie
La Romanée
La Roquemaure
Les Baudines
Les Boirettes
Les Bondues
Les Brussonnes
Les Champs gain
Les Chaumées
Les Chaumes
Les Chenevottes
Les Combards
Les Commes
Les Embazées
Les Fairendes
Les Grandes Ruchottes
Les Grands Clos
Les Macherelles
Les Murées
Les Pasquelles
Les Petites Fairendes
Les Petits Clos
Les Places
Les Rebichets
Les Vergers
Morgeot
Petingeret
Tête du Clos
Tonton Marcel
Vide Bourse
Vigne Blanche
Vigne Derrière
The following climats are village wines from a single vineyard known as a lieu-dit:
Blanchot Dessous
Bouchon de Corvée
Champ Derrière
Champs de Morjot
Clos Bernot
Dessous les Mues
En Journoblot
En l'Ormeau
En Pimont
Fontaine Sot
La Bergerie
La Canière
La Canotte
La Goujonne
La Platière
La Têtière
Le Clos Reland
Le Concis du Champs
Le Parterre
Le Poirier du Clos
Les Battaudes
Les Benoites
Les Beuttes
Les Chambres
Les Charnières
Les Chaumes
Les Chênes
Les Encégnières
Les Essarts
Les Grandes Terres
Les Houillères
Les Lombardes
Les Masures
Les Meix Goudard
Les Morichots
Les Mouchottes
Les Perclos
Les Pierres
Les Plantes Momières
Les Voillenots Dessous
Plante du Gaie
Plante Saint Aubin
Pot Bois
Puits Merdreaux
Sur Matronge
Voillenot Dessous
SHIPPING INCLUDED(on case quantities, Continental USA).
burgundywine.com Agnes Paquet
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