Wine Advisor
Bouchard Pere & Fils, Montrachet Grand Cru 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This has a very flamboyant and complex nose already and there is much to offer with a full array of chardonnay fruit, from citrus to peach and into even more exotic, tropical notes. The palate has a super plush, fleshy and flamboyant feel. There’s concentration of flavor, density of texture and fluidity to the shape and depth in the finish. A classic Montrachet, from a plot on the Puligny side between DRC and Ramonet. Drink across the next 20 years.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
From a parcel sandwiched between the holdings of Ramonet and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the 2017 Montrachet Grand Cru wafts from the glass with notes of oatmeal, lemon curd, ripe yellow orchard fruit and praline, subtly framed by new wood. On the palate, the wine is satiny, deep and complete, with a classily reserved profile that's concealing impressive reserves of concentration and structure, underpinned by juicy acids. It's a terrific Montrachet that may match the 2014 rendition.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Revisited from bottle, the 2017 Montrachet Grand Cru is showing brilliantly, exhibiting a profound bouquet of yellow orchard fruit, fresh peach, white flowers, honeycomb, freshly baked bread and wheat toast. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a textural attack that segues into a layered core that's underpinned by lively acids, concluding with a long and resonant finish. While this is already quite aromatically flamboyant, at least a decade's patience will be rewarded.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Montrachet Grand Cru has a slight reduction on the nose, although it is nothing to get too worried about. I think it has exceptional mineralité covered up by its youth. The medium-bodied palate is taut, fresh and quite saline, with a fine bead of acidity and some vanilla-y oak toward the very saline finish, though that will be eaten with bottle age. There is outstanding precision on the aftertaste, and that seems to be accentuated with aeration. I gave this a tepid reaction from barrel, but here in bottle, it received my highest score out of over two hundred 2017s. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Montrachet Grand Cru comes from 0.88 hectares of vine between Ramonet and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. It has a stoic, backward, linear bouquet that is far less expressive than either Chevalier-Montrachet. It eventually offers wet limestone and green apple scents. The palate is well balanced, not powerful or even the most complex Montrachet that I have tasted from Bouchard, but it feels very harmonious, with a smooth, lightly spiced finish.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep aromas of mirabelle, spices and iodiney minerality. The fattest and largest of these '17s, both more tactile and sweeter than the Cabotte. Much easier to taste today as well, owing to its ripe yellow fruit flavors. But this also shows more energy than the Cabotte and finishes with a serious tannic spine and the rocky minerality to support a slow evolution in bottle. While showy already, this should be long-lived in the context of its vintage. Bouchard harvested its Chevalier-Montrachet and Montrachet vineyards between September 6 and 8 in 2017. (14% alcohol)
