Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St. Jean Premier Cru 2020
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Robert
Parker -
Jasper
Morris
Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
A golden lemon color, this wine offers aromas of citrus, wet stone and a tinge of resin. On the palate, orchard fruit marries the aromas with a slightly sappy character. Rich and opulent with medium-bodied flavors that caress the mouth and culminate in a clear, long and vivacious finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As was the case in 2017, the 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean has turned out especially well this year. Bursting with aromas of pear, freshly baked bread, orange oil and beeswax and framed by a deft touch of reduction, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, its fleshy core of fruit girdled by tangy acids.
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Jasper Morris
Picked on 26th August at 13.5% alcohol. Clean and clear cut with some lime blossom notes. The white Clos St-Jean has a thick texture of ripe fruit on the palate, though with some fresh energy and with medium class.
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One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A Côte de Beaune village of Burgundy most famous for its beautifully textured and powerful whites, Chassagne-Montrachet reaches farthest south in the Côte d’Or, save for the village of Santenay. It has three Grands Crus vineyards: Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. Le Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet overlap with and are (confusingly) shared with the village of Puligny-Montrachet. But Chassagne-Montrachet bears sole ownership of the Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru.
The beauty doesn’t stop there as the village has a great many outstanding Premiers Crus wines and village level wines. Most famous Premiers Crus vineyards include Les Chenevottes, Clos de la Maltroie, En Cailleret and Les Ruchottes. Also, village level wines offer many lovely examples of what Chassagne-Montrachet has to offer, but at more approachable price points and perhaps less demand of waiting.
The best sites in Chassagne-Montrachet have complex soils of sedimentary rock and limestone (with less marl). Whites, which are by law composed of 100% Chardonnay (as in all classified white Burgundy from Côte d’Or), have steely power, bright and concentrated citrus, stone or tropical fruit characteristics and attractive textures ranging from plush to tactile, grippy and mineral-driven.
There is some fine Pinot Noir produced from the village. These wines tend to be high-toned and earthy, with wild herb aromas and suave tannins.