Montrachet Grand Cru

Montrachet gives its name to the hill of white Grands Crus between Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, in the southern Côte de Beaune, and is divided almost equally between the two communes. It occupies a narrow band on the lower part of the slope, at around 260 meters, with Chevalier-Montrachet higher up and Bâtard-Montrachet just below. It faces east and southeast; at night the cold air slides down toward the plain and protects it from frost and damp.

A fault divides it into two sectors. In the larger one, a thin layer of marl rich in iron oxides covers slabby limestones of the Middle Jurassic: a red, clayey, very stony soil that dries quickly. A few higher parcels sit on shattered limestone, with lean, free-draining earth. The name means “bald mountain,” after the bare rocky crest above the vines; the t's are silent.

Recorded as “Mont Rachaz” in the thirteenth century, it became famous in the eighteenth, when Abbé Arnoux called it the most delicate white in France. In 1878 Puligny and Chassagne added its name to their own; a court ruling of 1921 set its boundaries, and in 1937 the Grand Cru appellation was born. The wine, bright gold, combines finesse, firmness, and roundness: hazelnut and honey over a mineral vein, with exceptional length and staying power. The available bottles, when there are any, appear further down.