2014 Domaine Fontaine Gagnard Batard Montrachet Grand Cru

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2014 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru has a touch more gumption on the nose compared to the Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet with scents of citrus lemon, linden and cold granite, beautifully focused and very intense. The palate is long and tender in the mouth, certainly spicier and more extrovert than the Criot with a bravura finish that lingers long in the mouth. This is just a superb Bâtard-Montrachet from the domaine, one of the best of the vintage. Fontaine-Gagnard is a Chassagne domaine that has really upped the ante in recent vintages, and has provoked discussion among Burgundy cognoscenti who noticed a shift in style to ever more precise and complex expressions of respective terroirs. A large part has been due to the change in generations. Since Celine Fontaine has taken the reins, there has been a drive towards quality that is clearly tangible in the wines. Moreover, she always comes across as an intelligent, thoughtful, candid and passionate winemaker, so much so that I could quite easily sit and chat with her all day. She’s a winemaker that seems to be more “switched on” than others, considering not only the quality of her wines but also their distribution and perception beyond the confines of Burgundy. And Celine has a lot in her hands, literally as well as figuratively, what with one baby delivered and another one on the way. (12/2015)