Our expert’s 10 favourite Chassagne-Montrachet premiers crus in 12 wines

Chassagne-Montrachet is most famous as one of the three great white wine villages in the Côte de Beaune known as The Golden Triangle, along with Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault.

Understanding the true value of Chassagne is more complex, however, given the diverse range of delicious wines in both red and white.

Scroll down for 12 delicious Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru wines to seek out

The reds are not as well-known as the whites today, but not so long ago, there was much more red wine produced here than white.

In the 1855 vineyard classification work by Dr Jules Lavalle, the fame of the village rested firmly on its red wine, and when the appellation was created in 1936, just 25% of the wine produced was white.

By 1982, that proportion had risen to 48%. Today, it is 74% overall and 84% for wines classified as premier cru.

What you need to know

Chassagne, like Chablis, makes use of porte-drapeau (standard bearer) appellations – a premier cru can be labelled with the name of its lieu-dit or can be grouped with one of the eight umbrella appellations, which include several different lieux-dits. Some have further subdivisions, producing a confusing welter of 55 potential premiers crus in total.

My 10 favourite premiers crus

Blanchot Dessus

Blanchot Dessus is one of four small premiers crus that surround the grands crus, producing wines that can be rich and buttery, with some of the density of their grand cru neighbours; all lie north of the Route Nationale, near Puligny.

Blanchot Dessus is located to the south of its illustrious neighbour Montrachet, up the slope from Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. This well-located premier cru should not be confused with the village-level Blanchot Dessous, which lies just downslope in heavier soils and also borders grand cru Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet.

Dent de Chien

Dent de Chien (meaning ‘dog’s tooth’ in French) is a patchy appellation – much of it is scrub land with soils too thin to plant. What is planted, however, can be superb (part of it touches Montrachet).

Nearly a half-hectare of Dent de Chien was reclassified as Montrachet in a 1921 court case, and the wines are undeniably lush and dense. Don’t confuse this appellation with the St Aubin premier cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien (‘stone walls made of dog’s teeth’), which is above the unplanted part of Montrachet.

Dent de Chien is further up the slope than Blanchot Dessus, and the wine is a bit edgier, with more tension but less richness.

Les Chaumées

At the northern edge of the village, the premiers crus face east and north; they have more in common with St Aubin than with the rest of Chassagne. At the top of the slope lies Les Chaumées (not to be confused with Les Chaumes, which is at the other end of the village in the Boudriottes subdivision of Morgeot).

These are wines that can be lemony, mineral and bright with elegance and finesse. Of particular note is a clos called Clos de la Truffière, planted with very old vines.

It is farmed by Domaine Michel Niellon and Domaine Jouard; Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard has also resumed farming a small parcel here that will go to the new domaine of Philippe Lestimé, son of owner Caroline Lestimé.

Les Chenevottes

The vineyards below Les Chaumées are given over to the lieux-dits Les Chenevottes and its umbrella, mostly sold as Chenevottes, and the stand-alone Les Macherelles. This section of Chassagne is less steep than Les Chaumées, and the wines are typically softer, more floral, and often lighter.

As with Les Chaumées, the vineyard is planted exclusively with Chardonnay. At more than 10ha, it is a large vineyard producing a range of styles and qualities.

I was seduced recently by a Chenevottes from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey with a few years of bottle age that was sublime.

Clos Saint-Jean

Clos Saint-Jean owes its name to its original owner, the abbey of Saint-Jean-le-Grand in Autun founded in the 6th century. The vines of the clos are located just above the village of Chassagne itself. They are planted with a mix of red and white varieties.

The red wines can be very elegant and balanced. They are often not as powerful or full-bodied as those from Maltroie, which is down the slope from the village and do not display the rustic tannins that Chassagne is sometimes accused of producing. The whites here can strike a deft balance between richness, finesse and tension.

Champs Gains

The climat Les Champs Gain (as it appears in the cadastre, or land registry; many variant spellings exist) is located at the base of the premier cru slope just south of Maltroie and the village of Chassagne proper.

It is mostly planted to Chardonnay today, although Caroline Morey produces a delicious version in red, as do several other members of her extended family.

Given the clay-rich soils at the base of the slope, it is a logical choice, but the whites are also very fine. A version from Armand Heitz is rich and Meursault-like, while the one produced by Marc-Antonin Blain (from vines that are at the foot of the Caillerets premier cru just bordering Champs Gains up the slope) drinks more like a Puligny.

La Romanée

La Romanée is among the most spectacular vineyards at the top of the slope. It is a part of the umbrella climat of La Grande Montagne. Here, the thin limestone soils and high elevation combine to make a perfect place to produce electric, lemony white wines.

At 3.35ha, La Romanée is the largest lieu-dit in La Grande Montagne; several producers use this latter name, although many prefer La Romanée. Both are worth exploring, along with the other lieux-dits here, including Grandes Ruchottes, En Virondot, and two small patches that can be called Tonton Marcel.

These lively, vivacious wines are almost pungent with citrus aromas, even in hot years, and can potentially live for decades.

En Cailleret

En Cailleret is a lieu-dit and a climat of its own, distinct from neighbouring Cailleret (without the ‘En’), which is an umbrella composed of Vigne Derrière, Les Combards and Chassagne.

You will often find the appellation spelt in the plural as Les Caillerets. Located at the southern end of the village, this is an exceptional sector for white wine, with the vines stretching to the top of the slope in thin, rocky soils rich with white marl.

The wines, like those of nearby La Grande Montagne, are tense, linear and packed with exciting freshness.

La Boudriotte

Lieu-dit La Boudriotte itself is fairly small – 2.2ha. There are, however, many vineyards that can be labelled as La Boudriotte: six lieux-dits totalling 15.6ha.

Boudriotte itself lies at the centre, with the other lieux-dits stretching up and down the slope, running from thin, rocky Grande Montagne down to the richer, heavier soils of the village-level band at its base.

This diversity means there are both superb whites and reds to be found here, though sorting them out can be daunting. One example is Domaine Ramonet, which produces a delicious, finely chiselled white labelled La Boudriotte from vines in lieu-dit Les Fairendes, and an equally delicious but hearty, tannic red from lieu-dit Boudriotte itself, which the domaine labels as Clos de la Boudriotte.

Les Brussonnes

Located at the base of the slope at the southern end of the village, Brussonnes (like La Boudriotte) forms part of the larger Morgeot and is itself composed of seven lieux-dits. Red and white wines are both produced here with remarkable success.

Some feel the fairly dense clay soils are better suited to growing Pinot Noir. The enchanting white produced by Céline Fontaine at Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard, however, gives the lie to those who would exclude Chardonnay here, although note that she labels her version simply as Morgeot blanc.

The impressive range of white wines from Chassagne accounts for the village’s renown in today’s market, but the red wines, particularly from Clos Saint-Jean, La Maltroie and greater Morgeot, are among the region’s finest.

Although they fly under the radar, they keenly merit your attention.

Chassagne-Montrachet: 12 top premier cru wines

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