Chassagne-Montrachet

Chassagne~Montrachet, a long, straggling village, just over the old main Paris-Lyon road, the RN 6, from Puligny, is by no stretch of the imagination an exciting place, but a solid, workaday commune without Puligny's compact charm or Meursault's open, commercial bustle. However, the excellence of its wine amply compensates for the somewhat pedestrian ambience.
Chassagne's origins are Roman. Human remains unearthed in Les Caillerets suggest that early settlements were probably further up the hill beyond the older part of the village. If so, then Chassagne has gradually expanded downwards to its present position, newest manifestations of which are a grand 'Salle de Reunion', two sizeable wine shops and a large brick bus shelter.
 
A somewhat unprepossessing exterior is relieved by occasional outbreaks of delightful little courtyards amd mellow old stone buildings. Behind discreet facades live many of the families whose names have for centuries been associated with the community: Colin, Delagrange, Gagnard and Morey have rooted here and spread their matrimonial tentacles. Disentangling the different affinities may drive the wine-lover to genealogical tables to verify that he is dealing with the right domaine. The habit of adding one's spouse's surname often generates more confusion than it dissipates.

Of the 174,000 cases Chassagne produces annually, about 65% are white, the remainder being red. This shows a marked change over the past sixty years or so; in the years following the last war, the red proportion was nearly 80%, This shift is the result of the strong international market for white wine that developed in recent years, which enabled growers to charge considerably more for white than for red.

The trend has led to extensive replanting, to meet the demand for white wine. Whilst most of Chassagne vineyards are entitled to produce red or white wine, there are sound geological reasons for preferring some climats for one or the other. Unfortunately,
much recent planting has been on flatter land, whose high-yielding fertile soils are unsuitable for Chardonnay; the resulting wines are dilute and generally mediocre.

A few years ago, Bernard Morey and others tried to draw up a Chardonnay map of Chassagne, in an effort to limit plantings to suitable soils. The initiative failed, through lack of cooperation. In the interests of their appellation's good name, the INAO should be asked to resuscitate and supervise this worthwhile project.

The vineyards start just over the RN 6 and extend, generally with a good south- easterly exposure, for 2.8 km before reaching Santenay and Remigny. The degree of slope varies, from the flatter land below the Santenay road to the steeper hillsides 1. 5 krn above, at 300-400 m under 'La Grande Montagne'.

The Chassagne-Montrachet village appellation covers 300 ha, almost all of it below the Puligny-Santenay road. Most Chassagne Rouge is produced here, although some excellent red premiers crus are made, particularly in Clos Saint-Jean, Clos de la Boudriotte and Morgeot. The soils designated as those best suited to Pinot Noir tend to have more depth and a higher iron-oxide content. These are concentrated below the village, mainly on village AC land.

There are 55 individual premiers crus covering 150 ha. Many of these climats are subdivisions of more principal premiers crus of which many are sub- divided into 2, 3 or 4 individual climats. The wine may bear either the name of the principal lieu-dits or else that of the climat, giving ample scope for confusion. The most frequently encountered are Boudriotte, Vergers, En Remilly, Morgeot (its 58 ha divided into 22 lieux-dits at the last count), Maltroie, Grande Montagne, Clos Saint-Jean (14.6 ha), Chenevottes, Chaumees., Champs Gain, Caillerets, Embrazees and Grandes Ruchottes.
Two of Chassagne's three grands crus, Le Montrachet and Batard-Montrachet, are discussed under Puligny-Montrachet, since they straddle the two communes. The third, and smallest of the six white grands crus of the Cote de Beaune, is Criots-Batard-Montrachet. This somewhat forlorn patch of land, entirely in Chassagne, extends to a mere 1.57 ha and produces some 800 cases per year. The largest owner, with a holding of 0.62 ha, is Roger Belland in Santenay. Other fine producers include brothers-in-law Richard Fontaine and Jean-Marc Blain and Lalou Bize-Leroy who paid the equivalent of 2.4 million euros per planted hectare for a minuscule (0.06 ha) twenty years ago.

The cream of the white wines derives from the broad band of slopes above and either side of the village. Here the rock
is mainly oolitic limestone, a fish fossil substance, imparting nerve and vinosity. Soils vary from terre rouge, with some clay in Les Vergers and Les Chenevottes, through the white marls of Morgeot. Boudriotte and Champs Gain, to the red, ferruginous earth on either side of the Santenay road and the very hard, clay and stony ground of Clos Pitois and Les Embrazees, on rhe commune's southern border.

As with Puligny and Meursault, there is still too much Chassagne that is dilute and disappointing. Equally, there are excellent wines to be had from every sector of the vignoble. As ever, vine age, yields and the grower are as important as the appellation.
Apart from the domaines profiled here, fine Chassagnes are made by Drouhin from the Marquis de l.aguiche's estate, and by Louis Jadot from the vineyards of the Duc de Magenta, These are yardstick, classy Chassagnes: expensive, but worth every euro.

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