2012 St Aubin, La Chatenière, 1er Cru, Jean-Claude Bachelet & Fils, Burgundy
About this WINE
Jean-Claude Bachelet
Jean-Claude Bachelet is considered one of the most conscientious wine producers in St Aubin. The wines are exceptionally well balanced, with understated character and good medium-term ageing potential.
Benoît and Jean-Baptiste Bachelet now head up the estate, having taken over from their father Jean-Claude (who died in 2020). Jean-Claude previously sold much of the estate’s crop to négociants, but nowadays they bottle almost all their wines.
Benoît and Jean-Baptiste have now moved to superb new cellars in the hamlet of Gamay, next to St Aubin.
In the vineyard
The brothers have been experimenting with biodynamic viticulture in the vineyard and have plans to extend this across their holdings in St Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet.
In the winery
The basic principle of a long, slow barrel-ageing for almost two years remains in force, while the state-of-the-art winery has improved consistency.
Saint Aubin
Though tucked away in a side valley behind the two ‘Montrachet’ villages, Saint-Aubin is a great source of fine, steely white Burgundy and some attractively fruity reds. Production used to be about 50:50 between the two colours, but the whites have become the more sought-after and now represent two-thirds of the crop. There is a significant difference however between the best Premiers Crus – such as En Remilly – and the vineyards tucked away further up the valley.
- 80 hectares of village Saint-Aubin
- 156 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (15 in all). The finest include En Remilly, Murgers des Dents de Chien, La Chatenière, Les Frionnes
- Recommended producer: Hubert Lamy
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
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Description
La Chatenière offers a rich, full bouquet, with white fruits and flowers, then a huge wave of fruit and oak swells across the palate right to the back. A very long, sunny and charming wine.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Having moved into their smart new cellar, enabling them to optimise the winemaking side, the Bachelet boys, Benoît and Jean- Baptiste, are evolving their viticultural techniques as well. The vineyards are all ploughed and are managed according to lutte raisonnée, but there are biodynamic experiments in Les Charmois, Les Blanchots Dessus and their Grand Cru. This domaine, which receives regular plaudits in France, deserves to be better known internationally. There are short rations this year, as for everybody: Overall their yields in 2012 are 25 hl/ha in white and 19 h/ha for the Pinot Noir vineyards.
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