Lucien Le Moine
Criots-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2016
Criots-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru
The soils in Criots are a combination of marl, clay and chalk. In fact, the word “Criots” means chalk in French. The south-east facing slope lies at an altitude of around 780 feet – slighly lower than neighboring Chevalier-Montrachet and Le Montrachet, so the slopes tend to have a higher proportion of clay. Mounir describes this wine as “a bridge between the body of Bâtard and the class of Montrachet.
Color
White
Grape Varieties
Chardonnay
Appellation
Criots-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Reviews
Vinous - October 31, 2018 “Musky, sulfidey aromas of peaty Islay Scotch and smoky minerality. Fat, large-scaled, pliant and mouthfilling, with the peaty quality carrying through on the palate. As big as this wine is, it still manages to open out further and gain in thickness on the back end. The finish is plush, satisfying and very long, with just a touch of warmth. Mounir Saouma noted that this classic Montrachet-like Chassagne-side grand cru needs to be fully ripe to approach the other hyphenated Montrachet grand crus in quality. It’s certainly plenty ripe here, but I’d still like to have seen a bit more energy.”
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.