Joseph Drouhin Chassagne Montrachet "Marquis De Laguiche" Premier Cru

Since 1947, Maison Joseph Drouhin has held exclusive commercialisation rights for the Marquis de Laguiche family's Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru holdings — an arrangement that makes Drouhin the sole producer and seller of this address, a structural singularity with no parallel among Burgundy's major négociant houses. The vineyard sits on the limestone-rich, clay-limestone soils of Chassagne-Montrachet's Premier Cru belt, where the bedrock proximity and moderate elevation drive the taut mineral tension that defines the appellation's white wines over the broader, fleshier character found further north on the Côte de Beaune.

The 2021 vintage imposed severe discipline: spring frost and persistent mildew pressure slashed yields across the Côte de Beaune, and only rigorous sorting preserved fruit of genuine quality. The result is a wine of notable freshness and precision, characteristic of the vintage's low-yield concentration. Vinification follows Drouhin's white Burgundy protocol: slow pneumatic pressing with free-run juice separated from press fractions, followed by alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in French high-forest oak barrels using indigenous yeasts, with light bâtonnage during élevage of 12–18 months at 10–25% new oak — seasoned approximately three years before coopering to subordinate wood to site. The exclusive single-family partnership, combined with certified organic and biodynamic farming across all Drouhin estate holdings, positions this as a Premier Cru with Grand Cru provenance logic. The 2021 drinks with uncommon precision now but the structural acidity and limestone-driven minerality argue for cellaring through 2030 and beyond.