2018 Au Pied du Mont Chauve Chas.-Mtr. 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean
France / Burgundy / Cote de Beaune / Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Blanc
Au Pied du Mont Chauve Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint Jean (owned by Domaines Famille Picard).
Wine Enthusiast tasting note 93/100: "Sourced from biodynamically farmed vines located just outside the village of Chassagne-Montrachet, this steely, mineral-edged Chardonnay highlights high-toned lime and green-apple flavors. While supple and moderately full in body, it's an electric expression of this appellation, with a seductively smoky finish. Best held till 2025, it should improve well through 2035 and hold longer still".
The Clos Saint Jean vineyard contains iron oxide and produces a deep and saline wine. A complex Chardonnay with dominant citrusy notes. Great future wine, made for aging, that will show all its potential after three or four years of bottle aging. Set in the centre of the village, this "climat" or named vineyard, is one of the oldest in Chassagne-Montrachet. This terroir has very gentle southeast facing slopes with red soil (iron oxide) that is light, shallow and not very stony; on a bedrock of Chassagne-Montrachet stone that crops out. The soil is easy to work with crumbly rock. The 60-year-old vines are trained using biodynamic techniques following the lunar calendar and are tended using integrated, eco-friendly techniques; the pruning style is single Guyot, leaving long fruit canes and budding one eye in two, resulting in well-balanced, well-ventilated bunches of grapes.
Aged 18 months on lees, including 10 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.