2012 Chassagne Montrachet Les Battaudes

The 2012 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Bottaudes has a clean and fresh, stony bouquet with scents of dewy lawn on a summer morning. It has a divine apricot-tinged entry, a fine bead of acidity with a Meursault-like finish that rounds it off nicely. This Chassagne is imbued with impressive vivacity and depth. Drink now-2018. Having heard whispers about the quality of Agnes Paquet’s wines, I made a beeline to her stand at a special tasting for new growers. Agnes’ domaine is located in the Hautes Cotes de Beaune, her family having farmed vineyards in Auxey-Duresses since the 1950s. Her 8 hectares of vineyard eschew chemical fertilizers.Yields are moderated between 40 and 50hl/ha, with rigorous sorting at harvest, after which the wine is transferred in the winery, pushed through with air instead of using pumps. My introduction consisted of three wines, all of them well-crafted and encouraging me to investigate further in the future. No known US importer.