Jacques Carillon, Bienvenues Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru 2012

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2012 Bienvenues Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru has an almost understated bouquet. It is beautifully defined with oyster shell, touches of walnut, limestone and dried quince scents. The palate is extremely well balanced with superb acidity, very harmonious and refined with a gorgeous, orange zest, buttered toast and brioche finish that does not shortchange you on mineralité. This fulfills the promise from last year in barrel and constitutes one of the outstanding white wines of the vintage.

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2012 Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru comes from Jacques’ tiny 0.12 hectare parcel of 45-year-old vines and is raised in 50% new oak. Alas, there were just one and one-half barrels instead of the usual two. The nose demands a little coaxing from the glass, but it eventually, perhaps reluctantly, emits a captivating, smoky, nutty bouquet that I feel will only gain intensity with three or four years of bottle age. The palate is very composed and harmonious already. It is underpinned by extremely well-judged acidity and a spicy tingle right at the front of the mouth. There is a crescendo toward its gorgeous mineral-drenched citrus finish that has a lightly honeyed tincture. Already possessing enormous persistency, this will undoubtedly become a grand Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet. It was a pleasure to visit Jacques Carillon in Puligny at his winery adjacent to the village church, barely 20 meters from the winery of his brother, Francois. Like all the Carillon family, there seems to be a separate building for each stage of vinification. The family’s roots penetrate deep into Puligny’s history books, since Jehan Caillon tended vines in 1520. When their father Louis’ domaine was split between his two sons in 2009, Jacques and his wife Sylvie seemed to acquire more of the vineyard holdings (5.25 hectares in total), while Francois’ operation leans more toward a negociant structure. Their first separate vintage was in 2010. “It was cold during flowering,” Jacques explained, climbing up a ladder to extract his 2012’s from stainless steel vat, “and there was a lot of millerandage. We were affected by hail three times during the summer and consequently we lost 70% of the crop for the premier crus. But the malo-lactics went well and finished at the end of April compared to mid-June. The wines are showing good minerality.” His 2012s were some of the finest that I encountered from the appellation: even the village cru displaying Carillon’s trademark precision and each cuvee seeming to add on another layer of complexity until you reached the spellbinding grand cru. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant Ltd, 1219 Route 83, Pine Plains (NY) Tel; 01-2567-4810 and through various importers in UK including: Field Morris & Verdin, Goedhuis and Charles Taylor Wines.

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2012 tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Bienvenue Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru from Jean-Jacques Carillon feels more primal and straightforward on the nose compared to Girardin and Jean-Claude Bachelet, however in similar fashion to the latter, it improves in the glass and develops attractive cooking apple, fresh pear and kiwi fruit notes, perhaps even a touch of toffee. The palate is balanced on the entry with well-judged acidity, but it feels a little disjointed towards the spicy finish before recovering and coalescing, regaining its harmony. This is one of those wines that would have benefited from a longer decanting – a discrete white Burgundy for those with patience. Its nuances might have been overlooked in this comprehensive blind tasting, but it will evolve into something special.