Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet is the smallest of the four Grands Crus of Puligny-Montrachet, to which it belongs entirely. It occupies the northeastern corner of Bâtard-Montrachet, from which only a small lane separates it, at the foot of the slope and at around 250 meters, with an exposure from east to southeast; to the north it borders the Premier Cru Les Pucelles, to the southeast vines of the Village appellation.

The subsoil does not surface: the slabby limestones of the Middle Jurassic are covered by an uneven blanket of clayey colluvium, poor in stones, as in the neighboring Bâtard. For a long time its wines were lumped together with those of Bâtard, and eighteenth-century sources do not name it separately. The distinction came late: the Bâtard-Montrachet appellation dates from 1937, but the final delimitation and the recognition of Bienvenues as a Grand Cru in its own right date from June 13, 1939, closing a long process of differentiation among the climats of the old Mont Rachet.

The wine, golden yellow, combines great finesse with harmonious roundness: hazelnut, honey, and floral notes, with a very long finish. The clayey soils at the foot of the slope account for its roundness, and the maturation, customarily at least nine months, gives it good staying power over the years. The available bottles, when there are any, appear further down.