Chateau de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Clos du Château de la Maltroye' Monopole Rouge

Situated in Chassagne-Montrachet in the south of the Côte d'Or, Château de la Maltroye has been a family property since 1939, easily recognizable by its 18th-century glazed tile roof. Under the stewardship of Jean-Pierre Cournut, the domaine has earned a reputation for producing some of the finest Chassagne-Montrachet on the market. The Clos du Château monopole, lying just downhill from the village itself, is regarded as one of the village's best reds and one of the finest quality-for-price Premier Cru reds in all of Burgundy. This 2.8-hectare walled plot is planted with Pinot Noir vines alongside Chardonnay, and the red produced here reveals perfectly ripe red and black fruits with hints of undergrowth on the nose, coating the palate with smooth, generous tannins, a wine already approachable in youth, yet with the structure to develop tremendously with age. The 2020 vintage is a standout. Cournut described 2020 as "one of those rare vintages where it was possible to have zero interventions of any kind, as the fruit was essentially perfect." Harvesting ran from the 20th to the 25th of August, with spotless fruit requiring almost no sorting, and yields in red coming in on the lower end. On the nose, moderate oak influence frames spicy, earthy dark Pinot Noir fruit aromas. The palate is beautifully textured and slightly denser than mid-weight, with fine density and more evident minerality carrying through to a balanced, lingering, and mildly austere finish.