Bouchard Père & Fils, Montrachet Grand Cru, Burgundy, France, 2018

Overview of the Wine
Founded in 1731 in Beaune by Michel Bouchard, Bouchard Père & Fils, is one of the oldest wine estates in Burgundy, perpetuating tradition for nearly 3 centuries and 9 generations.

In 1775, Joseph Bouchard acquired his first vineyards in Volnay in the famous “Les Caillerets” climat and started to develop the family’s vineyard holdings.

During the French Revolution, property belonging to the clergy and nobility was confiscated and put up for sale. Joseph’s son, Antoine Philibert Joseph Bouchard, seized the opportunity to extend the family’s vineyard holdings in Beaune including the famous “Beaune Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus.”

This desire to build up an exceptional estate in Côte d’Or endured through the generations and acquisitions in the best Villages were added throughout the 19th century and again in the early 20th century.

Bouchard Père et Fils has been owned by the Maison de Champagne Henriot since 1995, and is currently headed by Christophe Bouchard, who has, in a few years, given a new lease of life to the expression of the estate's vineyards, and a coherence without false note to the trading activity that complements.

Grape / Blend
Chardonnay

Origin
Puligny-Montrachet, Cote de Beaune, Cote d'Or, Burgundy, France

Winemaker Notes
Bright pale gold color. Nose combining hawthorn, citrus and verbena notes. Full but tense mouth with stewed white fruit and spiced flavors. A great wine.

98 Points - Jasper Morris
Racked from barrel to foudre. Clean pure light colour. Great tension on the nose, clearly very high class, no detail to speak of, and nor should there be. A massive bench of white fruit, suggests the nose. This completely masters the palate but brilliantly cleanly defined, nothing heavy. Sublime length and now the little nuances do start to appear.

95 Points - Decanter
Bouchard Père have a substantial 0.9ha of the Grand Cru on a slope on the Puligny-Montrachet side. This is certainly at the riper end of the scale in 2018, but the class and poise of the terroir shine through, with orange zest and lemon tart flavours, plenty of extract and concentration and a frame of aromatic, vanilla spicy oak.

95 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sumptuous and dramatic, Bouchard's 2018 Montrachet Grand Cru bursts with aromas of honeyed peaches, toasted nuts, white flowers, orange oil and fresh bread. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, it's satiny and gourmand, with lively acids and a rich, expansive finish. If this year's Cabotte is more tightly wound and incisive, the Montrachet is irresistible for its power and scale.

93-95 Points - Burghound
This is also slightly leesy with a similar aromatic profile save for the fact that the spice elements are more prominent. Here too there is excellent size, weight and power to the broad-shouldered flavors that are just a bit more concentrated while delivering very fine persistence on the balanced finale. This will need to add more depth with time in bottle, but it appears to possess first-rate development potential. *Don't Miss!*

92-94 Points - Vinous
The 2018 Montrachet Grand Cru comes from 0.9 hectares on the Puligny side between Romanée-Conti and Ramonet. It was picked on September 5. It has a strict, focused bouquet with a subtle marine influence (oyster shells and cockle sheds). The palate is well balanced with admirable depth and a fine bead of acidity, but it does not kick on toward the finish like some of the other Grand Crus tasted from barrel. This is strict and serious. Let’s see how it ages. (

Product size: 750ml