Château de Puligny-Montrachet
The Château de Puligny-Montrachet is a beautiful residence built at the 16Th century and restored by its owner, Jean-baptiste d' Esdouhard, then mayor of Beaune and administrator in chief of the department of the Côte d’Or. From the years 1950, and during more than forty years, the poet & vine grower Roland Thévenin continued to hold the spirit alive and contribute to the wines of the region as the owner of the Chateau. The property was later sold to a bank which was later acquired buy another bank called Credit Foncier, in 1989. This is the short presentation of the prestigious domaine in the heart of Côte d’Or. There has been great changes in the quality of this domaine since 2001. One of the most important reasons is Etienne de Montille which took over as wine director in the same year. Etienne which also is in charge of the highly repudiated family domaine: Domaine de Montille.
No expenses were spared from the new owners, neither in the cellar or in the vineyards, Etienne started directly to forbid chemical treatments and started practicing biodynamical wine growing. For example, the continual plowing of the vineyards (rather than using weed-killers) has already brought the very positive effect of added drought resistance. The idea here is that by plowing the top-soil, the roots are forced to plunge deeper in the earth to seek their nutrients. This, during the unbelievable heat of 2003, proved to be the difference between making well-balanced wines or not, as those vineyards that were plowed fared far better than those who were treated chemically. Nowadays all the wines at the estate are cultivated biodynamical and new oak barrels is less used. Etienne also introduced opened oak vats for fermentation and got a new pump which moves the wines more gentle then the previous push-pull pump.
The modern winery built in the 1980s, has proved to be almost perfect for making wine in the minimalist, gravity flow method that suits Etennes style of wine making so good. In addition, only indigenous yeasts are used and the wines are lightly fined with egg whites, and bottled un-filtered. All these elements are falling into Etienne’s requirements and the goal of Etienne wich is to bring back the name of the domaine and put it between the best names in today’s Bourgogne. Etienne has used the sole white wine from the family estate as a prototype: Puligny-Montrachet “Le Cailleret”, which his family has been producing since the 1993 vintage. This white wine has become one of the most sought after wines from Burgundy. Here you will find an extreme balance between fruit, acidity and most of all the purity from the terroir which you can find in the absolute best chardonnay wines. The total size of the domaine is 20 hectares, which 25% is cru’ wines, 25% villages’ wines and 50% regional wines, where of course everything is done manually.
Vintages analyses from Etienne de Montille
Vintage 2001
The harvest began on September 22 nd with a good maturity. The acidity ratio/sugar was good for this year. It thus resulted a very satisfactory balance: the sunny climatic conditions allowed a good evolution of the sugar concentration at the end of September. The white wines, with a good aromatic intensity and a constant acidity evolved/moved well in time. The year is flexible, aggressiveness is not marked. The potential of cellaring is however not very important. The reds have a little less maturity. The wines are certainly very fruity but the general structure is of an average concentration: tannins are marrowy; the flattering wines and will be enjoyed in an early stage.
Vintage 2002
Harvest 2002 began on September 17th with a very healthy state. The acidity ratio/sugar was of good quality for this year. The aromatic concentrations of the white wines are superb, with fresh fruit notes, white flowers. The acidity of good level made it possible to make white wines of a remarkable balance. The potentialities of ageing are good. The reds have a balanced structure, with a concentration not excessively marked: tannins are harder, more marked acidity, the ageing potential is thus more important than of the year 2001.
Vintage 2003
Why not to speak about the year 2003: it is par excellence completely atypical. The vintage began on August 24, that is to say practically 1 month before one year normal. So the sugar concentration was of an incredible richness but the content of acidity of quite low levels. The white wines consequently suffered from this imbalance: they are very concentrated aromatically, however they are flexible at the end of the mouth. Of share this flexibility, the year 2003 is excellent for early drinking. The red wines benefited from this lack of acidity: the concentration is superb, tannins are ripe, flexible, and the remarkable aromatic intensity. There remains the year of reference.
Vintage 2004
Harvest 2004 began on September 24. The maturity of the grape was rather heterogeneous. The white are of a remarkable level of aromatic expression: the fruit dominates clearly, balance in mouth is silky, rich. Persistence is large and constant acidity. It is one year of reference and great capacity of ageing. The Reds are as for them quite constructed, with sharp tannins which will be based with time. The red fruits dominate the wines. A great year, of very generous nature, for Pinot noir and Chardonnay.
Vintage 2005
The first blows of shears were given on September 14. The year is early; maturity was of good quality, since the summer is still going strong. The white and the reds are of a perfect balance sugars/acidity. The ripe fruit expression is visible some is name: the concentration is strong and the persistent length. It will undoubtedly be a great year of guard in the two colors. But it will be necessary to have a little patience...
