One of the most compelling wines in this line-up; the 2010 Chassagne-Montrachet Romanee is rich, sensual and enveloping from the very first taste. Orange, vanillin, smoke and honey saturate the palate. The Romanee is a decidedly voluptuous, oily wine endowed with tons of textural depth and sheer richness. It is a great example of one of the 2010s here that is very close to a red wine in terms of its structure. A hint of botrytis adds complexity on the finish. I imagine the Romanee will need a few years to drop some of its baby fat. Fasten your seatbelts; this is a thrilling wine! Anticipated maturity: 2015+.
Proprietor Mounir Saouma thinks 2010 is a great vintage and therefore he wanted to push the boundaries as far as possible by slowing down the maturation of the wines. He kept temperatures very low in the cellar to encourage slow, long malolactic fermentations and long elevage in barrel. Among the unusual practices Saouma adopted with the 2010s is stirring the lees a full year after the harvest. At the time of my visit, in July 2012, none of the 2010 whites had been bottled, the only estate in Burgundy I know of that had still not bottled their 2010s. The wines Le Moine 2010s are big, rich and powerful. In many cases, the 2010s appear to have structures that are in the realm of reds. A number of the wines also show slight elements of botrytis that will become more pronounced over time. In addition to these wines, I also tasted the 2010 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot, which was too closed to properly evaluate.
Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (919) 769-3000