2017 Au Pied du Mont Chauve Chas.-Mtr. 1er Cru Les Vergers

France / Burgundy / Cote de Beaune / Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Blanc

Au Pied du Mont Chauve Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers (owned by Domaines Famille Picard).

A very elegant nose with subtle floral notes. In the mouth, this wine is very delicate with its strength hidden in its fineness.

Wine Enthusiast tasting note 92/100: "The reticent nose on this wine does not give much away. The smooth palate, however, shows vague notions of Mirabelle, an edge of smoke and lemon brightness on its smooth, gently rounded body. Concentration shows on the finish of this mellow, balanced wine".

The origins of this climat or named vineyard date back to the last century, when this area was an orchard. True white wine land, on a slight stony, gravelly, slope, the plots are northeast facing and set above Les Chenevottes. Bedded on Chassagne stone, the top soil is deep with some outcrops of rock. The white limestone marl soil is quite rich in minerals. The 50-year-old vines are trained using biodynamic techniques following the lunar calendar and are tended using integrated, eco-friendly techniques; the pruning style is single Guyot, leaving long fruit canes and budding one eye in two, resulting in well-balanced, well-ventilated bunches of grapes.
The grapes are hand-picked into shallow cases, sorted on a sorting table and taken directly to a pneumatic press. Pressing of whole grapes for two and a half hour.
 
Au Pied du Mont Chauve – where does this unusual name come from? APMC came into being at the end of the 2000s; the Picard family was then the owner of vines historically established on the Chassagne-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin, and Puligny-Montrachet estates. It was, therefore, perfectly natural for the name Au Pied du Mont Chauve to take root in Francine Picard's mind. After all, the latter is the nickname given to the well-known Montrachet's hill. APMC is bestowed with an extremely rich plot in those three exceptional winegrowing villages with no less than 20 prestigious climats – specially delineated plots of land, specific to Burgundy vineyards – including Les Demoiselles, Les Caillerets and En Remilly. From a desire for synergy between terroir and the wine, the vines have been biodynamically cultivated for several years, thus the vinification process is the most natural possible. Clearly delineated, delicate and expressive, APMC 's vintages are truly precise jewels where the perfectly controlled ageing reveals a fresh density of unmistakable elegance on the palate.