This Bourgogne Blanc comes from some seriously impressive terroir, namely 1.3 hectares of 20- to 50-year-old vines in the Puligny area (spread across four parcels) and a plot of young-vine Chassagne on chalky soil. The excellent location of these vineyards, combined with the quality of the viticulture and confident, hands-off winemaking, has produced one of the best-value white Burgundies in our portfolio. Lovely fruit, juicy freshness and just the right twist of reduction.

The wine has been in the Bachelet-Monnot portfolio since 2012 and is drawn from four parcels of mature vines that average 30 years of age. The key terroir is the lieu-dit Les Bras, which is a continuation of the Maranges 1er Cru La Fussière. Le Chainey is in there as well. The soils of these vineyards are exceptionally chalky and deliver a gorgeous white with a lovely, creamy midpalate and long, rocky close.

La Fussière is the largest climat of Maranges (next to Santenay at the very south of the Côte de Beaune), covering an area of almost 35 hectares. It faces south towards the start of the Côte Chalonnaise, on a slope between 290 and 400 metres ASL. Alongside a cracking red from these marly limestone soils, Bachelet-Monnot has long crafted an exceptionally pure and taut white Burgundy from a small parcel of 40-year-old Chardonnay vines occupying the vineyard's highest reaches. This is a ridiculously refined and delicious wine for the appellation. Expect a white Burgundy of striking purity, with all kinds of citrussy fruit and a long, chalky close.

This fleshy yet precise Chassagne is drawn from six well-sited parcels across the village: La Canière, Le Chêne, Les Benoîtes, Pot Bois, En Journoblot and Les Houillères. The parcels lie below the 1ers Crus except Pot Bois, which is one of Chassagne’s highest vineyards and sits above the Clos Saint-Jean. Les Houillères also deserves a callout, sitting, as it does, below Bâtard. The average age across these vines is 30 years. This is always outstanding, and the 2024 is a fleshy yet supremely elegant wine with love stonefruit generosity and lovely lick of powdery structure. Don’t hesitate.

It was the Bachelet brothers’ grandfather who first planted this vineyard, and the vines he put in the ground are now over 90 years old! Clos du Cromin is located on the north side of the Meursault vineyards, near the border of Volnay. Surrounded by dry-stone walls and with a south/southeast exposure, the soil is deep and rich in red clay, although there is still a lot of rock at the bottom. It’s a powerful terroir—a sunny site that ripens early—and equally conducive to Chardonnay as it is to Pinot Noir. Marc and Alex Bachelet work with a small 0.21-hectare parcel of vines here—half of the vines are the original plantings (some of the oldest vines in Meursault), with the rest planted in 1998. A very classy, racy expression of Meursault and of this vineyard, this is so typical of everything I love about the whites from 2024: racy, tightly wound, yet packed with character.

The domaine now works with 12 parcels in Puligny, many of which feature in this village cuvée. In the main, this wine comes from a handful of well-placed sites—Les Meix, Les Enseignères, Corvée des Vignes, Les Noyers Bret and Les Houillères—where the youngest vines are 25 years old and the average age is considerably higher. Like all the whites, this fermented spontaneously and was raised in 350-litre barrels. The 2024 is super impressive: deep and structured with lovely, lifted florals and citrus notes and a long, saline close. As good as Puligny villages get!

This vineyard carries the local nickname Petit Bâtard on account of its similar clay-rich soils and the depth, quality and texture of the wines it routinely delivers—both of which are reminiscent of the nearby Grand Cru, Bâtard-Montrachet. The Bachelet brothers farm a 0.45-hectare parcel of 40-year-old vines near the top of the slope (next door to Sauzet’s) under the Les Combettes 1er Cru. The soils here are very stony, which brings generosity and flesh, but there’s no shortage of mineral charge and chewy extract. The 2024 is a salty, rocky wine of brilliant tension, depth and length, with a kiss of gentle bitterness to close. Superb.

The brothers work a low-yielding, 40-year-old parcel of vines in this highly regarded terroir, right next to those of Leflaive and just below the Truffière vineyard. The name Folatières is said to derive from folles-terres (crazy earth), perhaps due to the violent erosion that can occur on these slopes during heavy rain. The vineyard is literally a stone’s throw away from the Pucelles and Clavoillon 1ers Crus (bordering the latter). It also lies at the same altitude as Chevalier-Montrachet. So, it’s a very serious terroir. Bachelet-Monnot’s parcel—at around half a hectare—lies in the lower, eastern pocket of the vineyard, where the soil is very rocky. This parcel always produces tiny bunches of fruit with little juice, and Marc Bachelet notes that although the vines are “only” 40-something years old, the plants behave as if they are twice this age. The 2024 is a blinder, more open than the Referts, and more delicate. It’s very “Puligny”; all white flowers and lime pith, supremely elegant and very, very long. 

Bachelet-Monnot’s Bâtard-Montrachet comes from a 0.14-hectare postage stamp of 50-year-old vines at the cooler, Puligny end of Bâtard (right at the top of the slope and immediately below Le Montrachet) and is planted to a density of 15,000 vines per hectare. Low yields are standard, with the density making pruning ‘short’ with two short four-bud ‘baguettes’. This is consistently one of the most mineral and refined examples of Bâtard we have tasted. Even in sunny vintages, the power of this famous site manifests as intensity and drive rather than fat. The notes below tell you all you need to know. Sadly, we have next to none.

This bright and juicy Bourgogne was drawn from three parcels. One-third comes from a parcel of old-vine Pinot Fin in the Hautes-Côtes, another third from vines in Maranges (village level) and the remainder from a Bourgogne parcel on the edge of Puligny-Montrachet. The Puligny component brings perfume, the Maranges brings depth of fruit, and the Hautes-Côtes brings structure and high-toned perfume. The age of these sites is seriously impressive for a red of this level, with 60-, 70- and 80-year-old vines in the mix. This fermented spontaneously in concrete tanks with 20% whole bunch, then went to barrel for one year in wood and six months in tank. It's a beautiful expression of Côte de Beaune in a cool year: immensely perfumed, lifted, red fruited and vibrantly fresh.

This charismatic old-vine cuvée is drawn from two plots: Le Chamery in Cheilly-lès-Maranges and Le Clos in Sampigny-lès-Maranges. The mass-selection vines are over 50 years old, and the soils tend towards red clay, shot through with rocky chalk. Alexandre Bachelet notes that these terroirs are reasonably warm, and he sometimes uses some percentage of bunches to balance the depth of fruit.  This wasn’t necessary in 2024 as the fruit was so racy anyway. Again, this is bright and red fruited but with more inky depths.  Terrific value now, this will be even better with a few years in bottle. Super value.

La Fussière is the largest climat of Maranges (at the very south of the Côte de Beaune, next to Santenay). It faces south towards the start of the Côte Chalonnaise, on a slope at an altitude between 290 and 400 metres. With the addition of a new parcel in 2020, the Bachelet vines cover three hectares with an average age of 60 years. This cuvée comprises 11 parcels. The Bachelet aim has always been to craft finer, more aromatic reds from the Côte’s southern reaches, and this limestone-rich site has helped further this aim. As Jasper Morris has written about this wine: “If you don’t know or don’t rate Maranges, this wine is the wake-up call.” This is another gorgeous release: fleshy yet mineral, long and complex. As the scores below make clear, in today’s Burgundy, this 1er Cru represents quite brilliant value!

Again, this is a stunning value. Bachelet-Monnot owns half of this clos. Boutière may well derive from old French for ‘end of the field’, which fits, considering this vineyard sits on the border of Santenay at the very end of the Clos Roussots vineyard. Clos de la Boutière has more clay, which can be felt in the added richness of the wine. It comes from a single parcel of 90-year-old, mass-selection vines that deliver ripeness and power. All the fruit was destemmed this vintage and no new oak was used. Seductive yet very complex and mineral, it’s another next-level Maranges and a crazy bargain for 1er Cru Burgundy. Incredible class.

This is the Bachelets’ second release from this highly regarded 1er Cru, which is a continuation of Santenay’s Clos Rousseau (Russots is an alternate spelling pronounced in the same way). The family has owned vines here for decades, though the parcel was too small to vinify separately; this fruit was previously blended into the village wines. Since 2022, they have had a fermage (rental) agreement in place, taking the total surface of vines they farm to just over half a hectare, so a single cuvée is possible. The vineyard has a band of hard limestone under brown marl soils. The 2024 is wildly perfumed with a pulpy, seductive palate. Red fruited yet generous it is, yet again, a crazy good wine for the appellation and another bargain. All these reds are fabulous blind option wines, but this one particularly as you get to ask, “Is this Rousseau or not?”

Les Charmes Dessus is a site just under the Clos Rousseau 1er Cru on the southeastern slopes of Santenay. While it’s reasonably close to Clos de la Boutière, the terroir is markedly different. Here, the red clay and rocky limestone soils produce aromatic, racy reds of great finesse and freshness. To put it another way, this vineyard is often referred to as a ‘white terroir’, and Marc Bachelet tells us this site always delivers the best acidity in the reds, regardless of the year. From half a hectare of 50-year-old vines,  the 2024 was lifted, tightly wound, spicy and very long with elegant, powdery tannins. 

This is our third allocation from the brothers’ Pommard vines which are located mostly in Chanlins, a village lieu-dit that lies just above the Premier Cru of the same name, on the Volnay border. The 0.25-hectare parcel of 40-year-old vines comes from Alex and Marc Bachelet’s father, who sold the fruit to négociants until 2011. At 400 metres, it’s one of the highest and steepest vineyards of the Côte de Beaune, which, along with the stony, chalk-rich soils, results in a very pretty ‘Volnay-like’ expression of Pommard. There is also a quarter from La Vache, a well-sited vineyard that lies above Les Rugiens-Hautes, which brings the depth.