Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Chassagne-Montrachet · Côte de Beaune · Burgundy · France · Wine Auction Prices

Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet is the smallest and most obscure of the six white Grand Crus in the Côte de Beaune, covering just 1.57 hectares entirely within Chassagne-Montrachet. The vineyard lies beside Bâtard-Montrachet on the lower mid-slope, between the boundary of Puligny-Montrachet and the village of Chassagne. 'Criots' derives from an old Burgundian word for small stones or dry ground — an accurate description of the very stony, shallow topsoil over Bathonian limestone. The tiny size of the vineyard and the small number of producers — primarily Blain-Gagnard, Fontaine-Gagnard, and Joseph Belland — mean it rarely appears at auction in large quantities. The wine tends toward a style between the richness of Bâtard and the precision of the Chassagne Les Ruchottes Premier Cru: generous and textural but with a distinct mineral backbone. It is one of the least well-known Grand Crus in Burgundy despite its exceptional terroir.

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