Chardonnay, Top 100 - 2015
#3: The 2006 Remoissenet ‘Le Montrachet’ Grand Cru, White Burgundy
Dec
Wine Spectrum’s #3 Wine of 2015
2006 Remoissenet (Inquire HERE)
White Burgundy | ‘Le Montrachet’ Grand Cru
Wine Spectrum Rated 98, Wine Advocate Rated 94: Intense citrus, peach and pineapple aromas on the nose with some cedary oak still jutting-out. Supporting notes of chalk dust, burnt match, oatmeal, butterscotch and ginger. Opulent palate boasting a full body and nice viscosity though still very young, tight and difficult to drink at this stage. Crisp acidity. Needs another 2 years or so in bottle at least. Very long finish.
Remoissenet Père et Fils is one of the hottest boutique Burgundy producers, a 13.5 hectare (over 33 acres) Burgundian estate and négociant house located in Beaune.
We were able to taste and sell ‘Le Montrachet’. If you are not very familiar with ‘Le Montrachet’, I urge you to watch the above video where world famous wine critic Pierre Rovani discusses it. For those that are familiar with ‘Le Montrachet’, you know just how lucky we are. This is the highest I have EVER seen us score a wine in my time here. If you are like us and wonder why Burgundy wines are consistently scored lower than others, Pierre Rovani was nice enough to go over that as well
Antonio Galloni:
Remoissenet continues to make massive strides in quality. President Pierre Rovani is one of the most outspoken people in Burgundy. It’s hard to argue with the results Rovani and his all-star team led by General Manager Bernard Repolt, Vineyard Manager Fred Le Prince and Winemaker Claudie Jobard have achieved over the last few years. Several top-notch vineyard sources will be coming on line shortly. Still, what impresses me most, especially among the whites, are the value-priced wines in the range. There are few houses in Burgundy that give wine lovers the opportunity to explore so many of the lesser known appellations without spending crazy sums of money.
Wine Advocate:
You may have heard of Pierre-Antoine Rovani. One of Burgundy’s most shy and retiring members, he was his usual taciturn self, uttering all but one or two words during my Sunday afternoon tasting of 2012s in Remoissenet’s 14th century cellars, just off the Beaune peripherique. You know the story here: the name reborn in 2005 when outside investors prompted a Damascene resurrection of what had fundamentally been an also-ran bottling operation, into a quality-driven concern and vinifying wines themselves. Their policy is to buy at premium in order to acquire the best fruit, except for the 2.5-hectare of vineyard that they own themselves. With general manager and former Louis Jadot president Bernard Repolt, winemaker Claudine Jobard and chef de culture Fred Le Prince (a wonderful name that sounds like a lost bassist from Funkadelic), this has been one of the region’s recent success stories. They use “342s” as Pierre Antoine referred to them i.e. 342-litre barrels casks for vinifying most of their wines. They have a large portfolio of both domaine and negociant wines that I tasted at a leisurely pace on a Sunday afternoon. And I must say, I was impressed by their 2012s. Sure, not everything hits the spot with such a comprehensive and diverse array of wines, but the fact is that many crus showed very well. As Rovani mentioned, there is a gap in the market for affordable Burgundy, one that will surely expand as the top names become prohibitively expensive for mere mortals. That is where Remoissenet can fit in and having overhauled their reds, it sounds as if they will be working on ameliorating their whites in future years, not that they are anything to be ashamed of now. Hey, and you know what? Even Pierre-Antoine was beginning to lose his inhibition and comes out of his shell by the end of the tasting.
2015 wines of the year release schedule
December Schedule
12/10: #10, #9, and #8 ranked wines
12/11: #7, #6, and #5 ranked wines
12/15: #2 ranked wine
12/16: #1 ranked wine
12/18: #11 – #25 ranked wines
12/21: #26 – #50 ranked wines
12/21: 2015 Winemaker of the Year
12/22: #51 – #75 ranked wines
12/23: #76 – #100 ranked wines
January Schedule
1/4: Top Chardonnay’s of the Year
1/7: Top Pinot Noir’s of the Year
1/11: Top Cabernet Sauvignon’s of the Year
1/14: Top Other Domestic Red’s of the Year
1/18: Top International Wines of the Year
1/21: Top Wines of the Year under $60
