2017 Au Pied du Mont Chauve Chas.-Mtr. 1er Cru Les Chenevottes
France / Burgundy / Cote de Beaune / Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Blanc
Au Pied du Mont Chauve Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes (owned by Domaines Famille Picard).
Les Chenevottes is a 1er Cru vineyard at the base of the Mont-Rachet hill in the commune of Chassagne-Montrachet. It is one of the larger climats in the region, covering 11 hectares (27 acres) of land planted entirely to Chardonnay.
The vineyard is located on a plot of about 55 centimeters deep from which we can see a hard and stony horizon. The soil is red, indicating the presence of iron oxide, which corresponds to remnants formed by the hardening of soil found in tropical regions millions of years ago. Five plots spread over various areas of the appellation make up the cuvée. Age of the vines varies between the 1940s and 2010.
The grapes are grown biodynamically and harvested by hand in crates, sorted on a sorting table if necessary and conveyed directly to the pneumatic press. Pressing of whole grapes for two and a half hour. The juice from stainless steel vats settles at 12 degrees overnight. The must is directly transferred to barrels to achieve alcoholic fermentation (traditional Burgundy vinification).
Aged 18 months on lees, including 12 months in oak barrels.
Au Pied du Mont Chauve – where does this unusual name come from? APMC came into being at the end of the 2000s; the Picard family was then the owner of vines historically established on the Chassagne-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin, and Puligny-Montrachet estates. It was, therefore, perfectly natural for the name Au Pied du Mont Chauve to take root in Francine Picard's mind. After all, the latter is the nickname given to the well-known Montrachet's hill. APMC is bestowed with an extremely rich plot in those three exceptional winegrowing villages with no less than 20 prestigious climats – specially delineated plots of land, specific to Burgundy vineyards – including Les Demoiselles, Les Caillerets and En Remilly. From a desire for synergy between terroir and the wine, the vines have been biodynamically cultivated for several years, thus the vinification process is the most natural possible. Clearly delineated, delicate and expressive, APMC 's vintages are truly precise jewels where the perfectly controlled ageing reveals a fresh density of unmistakable elegance on the palate.