2010 Le Montrachet

The 2010 Montrachet, from the Chassagne side, is utterly magnificent. Smoke, slate, butter, spices and juicy yellow stone fruits explode from the glass as this totally captivating, alluring wine shows off its pedigree. Waves of fruit continue to develop in the glass. The 2010 Montrachet is simply huge. It is compelling today, and I imagine it will be compelling in 30 years' time. This is a dazzling effort.

The 2010 Montrachet, from the Chassagne side, is utterly magnificent. Smoke, slate, butter, spices and juicy yellow stone fruits explode from the glass as this totally captivating, alluring wine shows off its pedigree. Waves of fruit continue to develop in the glass. The 2010 Montrachet is simply huge. It is compelling today, and I imagine it will be compelling in 30 years’ time. This is a dazzling effort. Anticipated maturity: 2020+. Once again, I tasted with Jacques Lardiere and Frederic Barnier during a marathon session that lasted several hours. Lardiere has been on a whirlwind tour celebrating his last year at Jadot before his long-announced retirement, but I will believe he is stepping down when I see it. Lifers like Lardiere simply don’t retire. As for the wines, Jadot’s 2010s are unqualified successes across the board. Of course, the wines from the most prestigious appellations are often compelling, but frankly I find just as much joy in discovering the many fabulous Burgundies from unheralded villages that are sprinkled throughout this portfolio. Lardiere and Barnier first thought 2010 was better for reds than whites, but that gap has narrowed recently in their opinion. Yields were down 15-20% for the whites (less than the reds), because of the December, 2009 frost and irregular flowering the following spring. A number of wines were chaptalized approximately 0.5%. The 2010 whites were bottled between February and March 2012. I also tasted a handful of 2009s and 2008s, which I have included here as part of my goal to revisit wines from bottle on a regular basis. I continue to be thrilled by the Jadot 2009 whites, while the 2008s I tasted are mostly equally succesful. Jadot fans know that this venerable winery is composed of several brands; Maison Louis Jadot, Domaine Louis Jadot, Heritiers de Louis Jadot, Domaine Duc de Magenta and Domaine Gagey. In the interest of simplicity, I have listed all of the wines in this section under Domaine/Maison Jadot. There are two cases in which a wine is made by more than one of the labels, in which case the corresponding tasting note indicates which wine was tasted; they are the Chassagne-Montrachet premier cru Garenne and the Puligny-Montrachet premier cru Folatieres. Importer: Kobrand Corp., Purchase, NY; tel. (914) 253-7756

Seven barrels made; some years they make 10. All on the Chassagne side. Such density! My pour was too big! Big and magnificent and well held in by a corset of tannin but with masses of beguiling fruit there. Hugely impressive. Almost more concentrated than any red burgundy! (JR)