Joseph Drouhin Marquis de Laguiche Montrachet Grand Cru 2023 (BH95)

Country:               France
Region:                 Burgundy Rating:                 BH95, RP96
Grape Variety:   100% Chardonnay
Type of Wine:     White Wine
Bottle Size:          750ml

Burghound 95
Note: from a 2.06 ha parcel on the Puligny side. Montrachet: (from a .35 ha parcel on the Puligny side that sits directly above the parcel of Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet). A more floral-suffused nose is decidedly restrained and requires aggressive swirling to coax the aromas of acacia and lilac, essence of pear and an admirably discreet application of oak. The sleek, intense, powerful and impressively scaled flavors brim with sappy dry extract that buffers the firm acid spine shaping the precise and wonderfully long, bone-dry and well-balanced finale. As is usually the case at this early stage, this is exceptionally compact but not so much so that it couldn't be approached after 'only' 7 to 8 years.

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate 96
The 2023 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Grand Cru is a rich, lavish wine, bursting with aromas of honeyed pears, toasted nuts, baking spices, orange oil and white flowers. Full-bodied, broad and layered, it's satiny and seamless, with a deep core of fruit and a long, sapid finish. This historic Beaune négociant house is also an important proprietor in its own right and one that's only growing, with the acquisition last year of 20 additional hectares located in Saint-Romain and Saint-Véran. The Drouhin family remains committed to the ideal of elegance, and their 2023 reds privilege perfume and sensuality over raw power. The whites, always glossy and gourmand, also retain good energy this year. Everything reviewed here comes recommended.

John Gilman 98
If I were a winemaker fortunate enough to have vines in the Montrachet vineyard, this is exactly the style of Montrachet that I would produce! The 2023 Laguiche is pure magic in the making, delivering a stunningly beautiful bouquet of pear, golden delicious apples, lemon, crème pâtissière, almond, chalky soil tones, vanillin oak and a lovely floral topnote of citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, precise and seamless, with beautiful depth of fruit at the core, superb mineral drive and grip, an excellent spine of acidity and laser-like focus on the long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. A great, great wine in the making!