2012 Batard Montrachet
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Tasting notes
I tasted the 2012 Bâtard-Montrachet from two different barrels, Seguin Moreau and François Frères, which is the standard cooper here. The Seguin Moreau barrels brings out the more floral, perfumed side of the wine, while the François Frères gives more volume and texture. In both barrels, what emerges is a gorgeous, beautifully layered wine that is perhaps not quite as opulent today as the Bienvenues, but striking all the same. What stands out most is the wine's length and persistence.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(these domain vines were picked with 13.2% potential alcohol): Light-medium yellow. Deeply pitched aromas and flavors of ripe peach, almond and clove. Superrich and tactile, if a bit less floral and more phenolic today than the young Bienvenues. Finishes very long and dry, with a hint of tannins but surprisingly detailed flavors of lemon, smoke and almond. Boillot owns parcels of Batard on both the Chassagne and Puligny sides, with the same vine age.
There is an interesting hint of petrol to the otherwise more typical aromas of floral and dried white and yellow orchard fruit aromas that display spicy top notes. As one might reasonably expect this is substantially bigger and richer than any of the preceding wines in the range with excellent concentration as the dry extract does an excellent job of both imparting a seductive mouth feel as well as buffering the moderately firm acid spine that shapes the hugely long finish. This is terrific with outstanding power yet perfect balance. One to carefully consider as this is a beauty. Tasted: Jun 15, 2014. Drink: 2020+
Bright yellow. Citrus oils, hazelnut and minerals on the precise nose. At once penetrating and powerful, with serious acidity and strong dry extract combining to give this wine a distinctly bracing quality today. An element of iodiney minerality accentuates the impression of youthful tightness. This infant needs a minimum of five years in the cellar. Incidentally, Boillot believes the 2013 edition is ultimately deeper, but the '12 should evolve more slowly. 93+. Sep 2014, www.vinous.com
About the producer
Based in Meursault and farming some of the finest vineyards in the Côte de Beaune, Henri Boillot is a leading address in Burgundy. He crafts fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but the estate is best known for its flagship monopole vineyard, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Clos de la Mouchère.