Bachelet Monnot

In January 2005, after years of travelling France and the rest of the world gaining vital wine-making experience two budding young vignerons, brothers Marc and Alexandre Bachelet, set up this Domaine that spans 10 hectares over the Maranges, Santenay and Puligny-Montrachet communes. With a burning desire to work with nature to make the finest possible wines, Marc and Alexandre adopt a very natural, labour-intensive approach to wine-making. Soils are ploughed, vine health carefully monitored, herbicides are forbidden and strict de-budding is carried out to limit yields, whilst all grapes are hand picked at optimum ripeness. This Domaine is a rapidly rising star. 50% new oak is employed for Grand Crus whilst mush less is used for the rest of the range which, and along with using a mixture of larger-sized barrels alongside the traditional barriques, has been instrumental in eradicating oak impact on the flavour profile of the wines. The red Maranges is produced using a small proprortion of whole bunches. Form Bourgogne to Batard these are some of Burgundy's most brilliant wines from two of its most exciting young winemakers.

2017 Vintage

The Bachelet brothers noted a “superb maturity of fruit in 2017” continuing “we harvested early because ripening was going quickly and we wanted to keep brightness in the wines.” Picking started for whites on the 28th August and for Pinots a few days later. The grapes were ripe and healthy so they continued their policy of using whole bunches for fermentation, this year around 20%. With slightly earlier picking and a little more aeration during vinification, the Bachelets are succeeding in their aim to get more delicate and red-orientated fruit qualities in their reds. For the Chardonnays, the berries were small and with little juice, so had a lot of dry extract. So healthy was the fruit that they did not hesitate to use plenty of lees during ageing. Marc Bachelet boldly and, in our view quite rightly, asserts “I would place 2017, for whites, as high as 2014 for us, probably better. Since then our wines have gained in concentration and precision.” A stunning set of reds and whites, a milestone vintage for Bachelet-Monnot, that firmly puts them amongst the Côte de Beaune’s greatest producers.

2018 Vintage

It is a measure of how great this domaine has become that in such a challenging and heterogenous vintage as 2018, they have produced a consistently brilliant range in both red and white wines. The young Bachelet brothers seem restless in their pursuit of quality, raising the bar every year. This proved to be one of our most enjoyable 2018 tastings. Extreme vigilance was required in 2018, according to Marc Bachelet. They started pre-analysis of the Chardonnay on the 16th August and continued to do this every three days, noting very rapid changes in potential alcohol degrees each time. They began harvest as early as they could, as soon as berries had reached ripeness, on 28th August. The red harvest followed a little later, on the 3rd September. The alcohol degrees for Chardonnay reached a maximum of 13.2%, so the wines have plenty of verve to them as well as ripe fruit flavours. The Bachelets have continued with methods that have brought them such success with their whites over the last few vintages - no debourbage (settling of the must), no batonnage, using slightly larger barrels of 350 litres allowing for a bigger wine to wood ratio, and putting the wines into steel tank for their final six months of their 18 month élévage. All of this means they produce very stable, pure and vivid wines of intensity without recourse for too excessive sulphur usage. The reds get finer and purer with every passing year. Ranging from 13 to 14 degrees of alcohol and with 20% whole-bunch fermentation employed to give sapidity and a floral aspect to the wine, these wines are generous but controlled, expressive and full of fruit yet with plenty of savoury and mineral complexity that make them so moreish. A stellar vintage here.