Domaine Fontaine Gagnard Criots-Batard-Montrachet 2024

Grand Crus

• Le Montrachet Chardonnay from a 0.08-hectare parcel the family has owned since the late 1970s. In 2022 Céline used no new oak because she disliked how new wood had worked in 2020.
• Bâtard-Montrachet Chardonnay from 0.30 hectares in three parcels, mostly near Criots, with some toward the Puligny side. Like all the domaine's grand crus and premier crus, it is raised for 12 to 18 months with 30 to 40% new oak.
• Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Chardonnay from 0.33 hectares, the domaine's largest grand cru holding and one of the bigger shares of this 1.57-hectare cru. The slope is south-facing, steep and stony, and the extra sun shows as riper fruit and a long finish.

Chassagne Premier Crus (white)

• Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets Chardonnay from 0.56 hectares planted between 1962 and 1966, facing southeast and lying behind the last houses of the village. The upper section is thin white stone and the lower section heavier clay, so the wine combines tension with some weight.
• 1er Cru La Romanée Chardonnay from an east-facing parcel high on the slope. Yields were low for years, and the domaine is now replanting it.
• 1er Cru Les Vergers Chardonnay from 0.72 hectares of 1970s plantings on shallow, iron-rich gravel facing southeast to southwest. Critics routinely suggest giving it a few years in bottle.
• 1er Cru La Maltroie Chardonnay from 0.76 hectares in two small plots of light, deep, low-clay soil facing southeast. It is usually among the first parcels picked each harvest.
• Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte Chardonnay from a climat inside the old Morgeot cru, on deep clay soils below the village. The clay gives a fuller, rounder white than the hillside sites.
• 1er Cru Morgeot Made as a white from the Morgeot sector. There is also a red Morgeot, listed below.
• 1er Cru Clos des Murées Chardonnay from a walled monopole in the center of the village. It holds so much heat that the team does not work there in the afternoon.
• 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean Chardonnay from 0.36 hectares planted in 1988 on thin red soil facing southeast. Richard Fontaine planted white grapes in this historically red clos before most of his neighbors did.
• 1er Cru Les Chenevottes Chardonnay from Les Chenevottes, a premier cru on the Puligny side of the village, next to the grand crus.
• 1er Cru La Grande Montagne Chardonnay from the stony, chalky upper slope above the village.

Village wines and reds

• Chassagne-Montrachet The domaine's largest cuvée: 1.7 hectares of Chardonnay blended from six parcels and raised in 15 to 20% new oak for about a year. It gives a clear picture of the house style at village price.
• Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge Pinot Noir from 1.49 hectares of marly limestone facing southeast, aged 12 to 18 months in 15 to 20% new oak. The style is red fruit and fine tannins, with no heavy extraction.
• Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Rouge Pinot Noir from 0.31 hectares of vines planted in 1964 on shallow, stony soil facing southeast.
• Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean Rouge Pinot Noir from the domaine's red parcel in Clos Saint-Jean, on the lower-slope soils that favored red wine before Chassagne turned to Chardonnay.
• Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes Pinot Noir from one of Volnay's top premier crus. Like the other reds, it spends about 18 months in barrel.
• Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens Pinot Noir from Pommard's best-known premier cru. Part of the family's original vines came from the Delagrange side in Pommard.
• Bourgogne Rouge Pinot Noir made with the same native-yeast fermentation and barrel aging as the crus. It is the entry point to the domaine's reds.