Wine Advisor
Etienne Sauzet, Batard Montrachet Grand Cru 2024
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2024 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru is richer and toastier than the Bienvenues, offering up notes of honeyed pear, buttered toast and white flowers, followed by a full-bodied, satiny and seamless palate with a glossier attack and more pronounced structuring dry extract that asserts itself on the delicately mordant finish.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2024 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru is more primal on the nose compared to the Bienvenue, beguiling leesy scents emerging, a little more presence by comparison whilst maintaining delineation. The palate is taut and fresh, plenty of substance, quite vibrant and tensile with more attack and nervosité towards the finish. This is up there with the superb 2023 and the two will vie for supremacy in future years. Just an outstanding Bâtard-Montrachet.
About the Producer
Etienne Sauzet is an estate based in Puligny-Montrachet, making some of the most sought-after Chardonnay wines in Burgundy. Sauzet's wines are prized for their elegance at village level and for their extra weight and concentration at Premier and Grand Cru level. The portfolio includes leading examples of Chevalier-Montrachet, Le Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Champs Gain. The domaine is made up of 15 hectares (37 ac) of estate vineyards split between the communes of Puligny-Montrachet, Cormot-le-Grand and Chassagne-Montrachet with small amounts of fruit externally sourced. The grapes are fermented in oak and aged in barrel for around a year – premier crus see up to 33-percent new oak, while grand crus get 40-percent. After barrel aging, the wines are racked into tanks for another six months on lees. Etienne Sauzet was established at the forefront of Puligny-Montrachet production by Etienne Sauzet himself (1903-1975). His 12 hectare (30 ac) estate was taken over by his son-in-law Gérard Boudot, although in 1991 Boudot's cousin Jean-Marc Boillot took out his share of vineyards, requiring Boudot and his family to make additional acquisitions to bring the property back to its current size.
