Lucien Le Moine
Montrachet Grand Cru 2016
Montrachet Grand Cru
No superlatives need be stated here about Montrachet. Mounir has worked in several areas of Montrachet, both on the Pernand and the Chassagne side, and has even once bottled them separately. He does not produce a Montrachet every year, only when he feels it will be worthy of the vineyard’s renown, and can stand at the pinnacle of his white wines.
Color
White
Grape Varieties
Chardonnay
Appellation
Montrachet Grand Cru
Reviews
Vinous - October 31, 2018 “Bright yellow. Very shy aromas of pear, crushed rock and iodine; conveys an almost 2015-like ripeness without any loss of its Montrachet character. This brooding, thick, sappy wine began a bit shy but gained in vibrancy and definition with oxygen, conveying increasing purity. Dominated today by crushed-stone minerality and medicinal herbs, this reserved, utterly seamless wine is barely at the beginning of its evolution. Finishes with remarkable unflagging length. When I remarked to Mounir Saouma that there was something almost obvious and deceptively tastable about this wine, he responded that he still wanted it to develop a bit more volatile acidity before he racks the wine prior to the ‘18 harvest and then returns it to barrel for another couple months before bottling it.”
Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Bourgogne Rouge
Bourgogne Rouge
This wine features Givry fermented by carbonic maceration, Hauts Côte de Nuits, some beautiful Cte de Nuits village, Fixin, Marsannay, and Pernand. Both the Bourgogne red and white spend a full 2 years in barrel, with some Premier and Grand Crus even bottled before them.
Bourgogne Blanc
Bourgogne Blanc
A blend of Rully Premier Cru, Marsannay white, Monthelie, Pernand Vergelesses, and Bourgogne from Meursault. Also, since the 2014 vintage, old vine Pouilly-Fuisse aged in new barrels.
Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Petits Monts”
Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Petits Monts”
Les Petits Monts is a small, 9 acre vineyard just up-slope from Richebourg. Mounir Saouma says about Les Petits Monts that it is not far from Les Suchots, and on top of Richebourg, with a poor, dry soil. It is in character the opposite of Les Suchots, which is colored and tannic - it is a subtle and very fine wine, which shows little tannin, more floral notes and more of a St-Vivant character.
Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Suchots”
Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Suchots”
Les Suchots is one of Lucien Le Moine’s finest Crus every year. Mounir says that, like Échézeaux, there is an almost Syrah-like character of licorice and smoke. Les Suchots is a wine with a lot of tannin and less of a classic, delicate Burgundian profile.
Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru “Les Vaucrains”
Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru “Les Vaucrains”
The commune of Nuits-Saint-Georges is the southernmost commune of the Côte de Nuits, and includes, from a viticultural standpoint, the small adjoining commune of Prémeaux-Prissey. There are 431 acres of vineyards which take this appellation at the village level, of which 29 are in Prémeaux. Of the 1er Cru vineyards, numbering 36, 28 vineyards occupy 248 acres in Nuits-Saint-Georges; the remaining eight, in Prémeaux, cover 104 acres. The Les Vaucrains is a vineyard of 15 acres lying upslope at 260-280 meters in the south part of Prémeaux.
Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru “Les Cailles”
Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru “Les Cailles”
The Les Cailles is an 18 acre vineyard from which the last several years Lucien Le Moine has produced wines of surprising power that still retain the elegance of Les Cailles. Les Cailles, Mounir Saouma says, is deeper than other Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Crus, with more body and more tannin. It is dense, and the heat of the vineyard gives a “charred” character to the wine - it becomes clear that this character is the wine’s (and not from oak) when you come to the finish, which is purely fruit. It is clear why some consider it a Grand Cru level vineyard.