Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot 2014
My first bottle of a case of Ramonet’s 2014 premiers. The colour is a reassuring vivid green-white gold, healthy looking. On the nose reduction is immediately evident, say gunpowder and even some cornflakes (there is a different thread in which the someone mentions this characteristic on white burgundy, but I forgot where). So I take time to be patient on this one and supply some air. Into the decanter for 30 minutes and then poured back into the original bottle and followed through the night.
After an hour there is a little more richness, some engaging apple, citrus (even grapefruit) and creamy oak. Off course there is a touch of mint, but only when looking for it. O the pallet building up on flavours, starting narrow and fresh, growing in intensity, with some extra acidity towards the end and finishing long on white fruit notes. Really long, I have to say. Quite powerful, but more linear and green in style than you might expect from a Morgeot. The longer in the glass, the more all the vividness seems to fate, returning to it’s original closed in performance.
Alas, I have to confess not a moment of truly convincing brilliance a premier cru from Ramonet in such a great vintage should be offering. In presenting a freshness, green style flavours, this is a more than a nice bottle, but not the 2014 white burgundy magic here now. I decided to keep the half full bottle for the next day.
The day after: boosting the same brilliant colour. The nose offers freshness, sea breeze and lime, along still an element of reduction, but certainly more precise aroma’s.
In the mouth, bolder, ripe citrus and chewy extract on the finish. And this spirit-like concentration of seemingly raw elements (like cooked cabbage aroma’s filling my mouth), which I associate with Ramonet’s whites and utterly adore. Huge upside potential here. I got here to early and will need to take a gamble on the rest of the case and wait a least a couple of years.
This reduction element is something I have only picked up on since the 2013 vintages. A 2013 Caillerets showed the same gunpowder tightness a couple weeks ago and only opened op up to become a completely convincing Chassagne after several hours (and at that point exceptionally good). With 2012, 2011 and 2010 I’ve had some oxidation issues, but when they were on, they were immediately engaging and full of flavour and offering a rich oily structure that is missing in today’s Morgeot, however long air time I gave it.
I don’t think of Ramonet as a domaine prone to alter it’s vinification every now and then, but is there a chance that in the period of this domaine’s transaction to the (legal) Jean-Claude ownership, there has also occurred a slight sift in winemaking style, maybe in reaction to premox?
Something else: I’d like do upload a photo with my note’s, but don’t get this done. I don’t have the pictures online, just on my laptop and phone. Any tips?
Cheers, Jacob