Etienne Sauzet Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2015

When co-heir Jean-Marc Boillot withdrew his share of the Sauzet vineyards in the early 1990s, the family was forced to rebuild plot by plot — the Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet holding that exists today is a direct product of that reconstruction, making each bottle a statement of deliberate recovery rather than inherited continuity. Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet sits at the northern edge of Bâtard-Montrachet on the Chassagne-Puligny boundary, its argilo-calcaire soils — clay and limestone — retaining just enough moisture to temper the heat of a warm year while the slope's aspect accelerates drainage and concentrates extract. The 2015 vintage delivered exceptional ripeness with natural structural tension, producing Grand Cru fruit of unusual density. Fermentation proceeds in French oak casks at 18–20°C using indigenous yeasts, followed by 12 months in barrel at 40–50% new oak, then a further six months in stainless-steel tank on a proportion of lees before a February–March bottling. That extended tank phase — rare among Grand Cru Burgundy producers — is the house's signature: it integrates oak without adding weight, preserving the chalky, site-driven minerality that distinguishes Puligny's upper slope. Sauzet's legally hybrid estate-and-négociant status means this wine carries no 'Domaine' label, yet the Grand Cru parcels are estate-owned. The 2015 is drinking beautifully now but carries the structural architecture for another decade of development.