Puligny-Montrachet

Puligny-Montrachet is the greatest white wine commune on earth. Considerably smaller than its neighbors Meursault, and Chassagne-Montrachet, it lays claim in their entirety two (Chevalier-Montrachet, Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet) of the six grand crus for white wine. Puligny’s grand crus lie at the southern end of the appellation, overlapping into neighboring Chassagne-Montrachet.

Grand Crus

Montrachet

Montrachet is Chardonnay at its most perfect, the slowest to mature and the longest lived. Montrachet is always a fuller, richer wine than the other grand crus, with a better acidity as well as a great deal more depth and finesse. It needs at least ten years to ascend to its best. When referring to the vineyard it is typical to add the prefix le when discussing the portion of the vineyard that is in Chassagne-Montrachet.

Chevalier-Montrachet

Located upslope from Montrachet, and on much meaner soil, chevalier-montrachet never produces to excess. Chevalier-MOntrachet is a full firm wine with good acidity and a masculine reserve. Once again, it is a wine which can be approached with confidence.

Batard-Montrachet

Batard-Montrachet is a much-fragmented climate, it produces a fatter, much more open, more exotic wine that Chevalier-Montrachet, a flowery, fleshy, honeyed, spicy richness.

Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet

Bienvenues is, roughly speaking, the northeast quarter of Batard montrachet downslope. the wine has a fatness a honeyed or honeysuckle fragrance and a certain delicacy, it is feminine.

Criots-Batard-Montrachet

This tiny Grand Cru one of the smallest appellations in france, lies immediately to the south of Batard-Montrachet. Its wine is the most delicate compared with bienvenues, the flavours are less honeyed, and the citrus element as a lemon sherbet or as limes. Again there is a flowery touch, but the flowers are less exotically perfumed and cooler, the effect more minerally, criots can be elegant and exquisite.

Premiers Crus

Les Demoiselles
Le Cailleret

Being the extension of Le Montrachet to the north, this is, or should be, the best of the premiers.At thier best these make exquisite wines, not as powerful as le montrachet but pure of breed with excellent grip and beautiful balance.

Les Pucelles
Clos des Meix

Downslope we come to Les Pucelles, the Clos des Meix is that part in the middle of the bottom of the climat. This is frequently a very delicious wine, all silk, flowers and fragrance. I look for something feminine here, delicate, soft, and honeyed, but with a good intense acidity underneath.

Le Clavoillon

Le Clavoillon continues on from les pucelles and is very nearly the monopoly of Domaine Leflaive. the soil is obviously less fine here, with more clay in it, we have a more four-square wine.

Les Folatieres

This is the largest Puligny-Montrachet premier cru. Les folatieres is a fullish, meaty, mineral wine with plenty of weight of fruit and good grip a typical puligny premier cru in fact. the climat lies just above Clavoillon, next to Le Cailleret, but climbing further upslope toward the hamlet of Blagny.

Clos de la Garenne

This climat, which is quite separate from la Garenne, lies next to Les Folatieres, on the north side of the road, similar to a good Folatieres it is always one of Jadot’s very best Pulignys.

Sous le Puits
La Garenne
Les Champ Gain
La Truffiere
Hameau de Blagny

There is a pioneering spirit here much of the land having been converted from scrub by means of major engineering feats of pulverising the rock clearing the bushes and smoothing out the terrain to make it economic to plant the vine. Sixty years ago, as old photographs will show this was natures territory not mans. In lighter years they can be a bit thin, but there is usually good acidity an absence of overripeness and an attractive minerally quality.

Les Chalumaux

An Herbal-flowery personality all its own, a second division premier cru.

Les Champ Canet
Les Combettes
Les Referts
Les Perriers

The first three climats run down the meursault boundary, marching with Meursault les Perriers and meursault les charmes. Les Combettes is the most complete wine of the four, a mouthwatering and deliciously elegant combination of Meursault and Puligny, with the steeliness of the latter and the honeysuckle and hazelnut of the former. Le champ Canet is similar but not not quite as fine or as three dimensional. Les Referts is fatter, spicier and a little coarser. Les Perriers is the closest to Les Combettes