Grand Montrachet

My final visit on my own was with Michel Coutoux, a well-known producer in Chassagne-Montrachet who produces only white wines. Coutoux holds vines in some of the most prestigious names in all of the Cote de Beaune: Maltroie and Chenevottes in Chassagne-Montrachet, Refrets in Puligny-Montrachet, Charmes and Genevrieres in Meursault, and a parcel of land within the walls of Montrachet itself. This was an opportunity to see some really special stuff.

Like Bocard, Coutoux does not speak English, and his winery is a bit tricky to find. It is actually located on the fork of the main road into Chassagne-Montrachet, but there is no signage on the house so I took a couple of laps before asking a man who was carrying bottles where it was located. He gave me a funny look and then pointed me into the courtyard he had just come from. Coutoux’s facility is small, and I do mean small. Literally, everything fits in his garage.

Unfortunately his barrel room is located a few blocks away, so we just did bottle tasting. The Coutoux style is something to behold: full of power but never imposing or out of control. I imagine that in time the wines become quite elegant, and the one experience I’ve had with his older stuff would confirm that thought. The fruit in his wines is perfectly developed: even ripeness that gives the feeling of a pear or apple that is crisp yet not hard, firm yet forgiving, and juicy but not sloppy or squishy. The balance as the wines sit on the pallet is wonderful.

Coutoux’s style is noticeably different than Bocard’s. Whereas the Bocard wines showed a lush richness the Coutoux stuff shows a bit more mineral and is probably a touch more refreshing. That’s not to say they are light (or that Bocard doesn’t show mineral), but I think the different fermentation styles result in wines with a slightly different build. Most wine experts will tell you the goal in Burgundy is to make wines that have as small of a fingerprint from the winemaker as possible and instead really emphasize the terroir. I definitely feel both Coutoux and Bocard let the vineyards speak, but they also give them a different stage. I’d have a very hard time having to pick between the two.

After our tasting I asked Michel to drive me to Montrachet and show me the vineyard. Earlier in the day I had the opportunity to see plenty of the area around the region, but I hadn’t really visited the Grand Crus. Michel happily agreed and along with him and his dog I hopped in the van. A short drive later we pulled up and parked right beside Montrachet and fellow Grand Cru Chevalier-Montrachet. With Coutoux leading the way we walked along the boundary between the two.

Montrachet is a decent sized vineyard, but it isn’t very large, with just less than twenty acres within its walls. Surrounding it Montrachet are the other Grand Crus that borrow its name: above Montrachet on the hill is Chevalier-Montrachet, and below it across the road is Batard-Montrachet. The very small Les Criots Batard Montrachet sits across the road from Batard towards Chassagne-Montrachet while towards Puligny there is Bienvenues Batard Montrachet. The other vineyards certainly are capable of producing great wines but nothing has ever carried the prestige of the wines from Grand Montrachet.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and as I looked across the vineyard I decided the best description of Montrachet I could offer is this: when God was creating the world he must have doing Montrachet on a day just like the one I was there and said to himself: “you know, this would be a really nice place to sit down and have a glass of Chardonnay.” Some people argue that for all the hype, Grand Cru vineyards never really look like you imagine they would. I disagree. I thought Montrachet looked like what would be the greatest Chardonnay vineyard in the world.

But of course, there needs to be more than appearance. We were pretty much just standing there enjoying the day with Michel occasionally trying to point out things I should see or know when I finally managed to ask the one question I wanted to have answered. Stretching out my arms towards the vines I looked at Coutoux and simply said: “the best?” Coutoux turned to me and smiled, and just simply nodded.

He looked at the vineyard for another moment or two with a strange, content smile on his face and then called me over to look closer at some fines. Taking a bunch of grapes in his hand he tried to show me the characteristics to look for. The bunches on these vines were good sized and all the grapes appeared to be developing at the same rate. The berries were all about the same size and were tightly bunched together, but it didn’t appear as though there were too many or they were straining the vine. It honestly looked like the kind of grape bunch you see in a painting. It was that perfect.

I didn’t get to try any Montrachet during my visit. For this trip I would have to be satisfied with just getting to tour the vineyard. But after that visit I would be very reluctant to challenge the notion that the greatest Chardonnay in the world comes from that patch of land called Montrachet.

Comments

[Jen Hill]

And if you offer me any other champagne...my eternal response will be, "No Krug, no thanks!"