Jean-Marc Blain met his wife Claudine Gagnard while they were both studying Oenology in Dijon. They both come from a long line of grape growers and producers. Jean-Marc’s family is from Sancerre where his family owns and operates a vineyard. Claudine’s grandfather was Edmond Delagrange, and it is through him and her parents, Jacques and Josephe Gagnard, that they inherited about 75% of their vineyards. After spending time at vineyards in Australia and New Zealand, their son, Marc-Antonin, now spends his time at the Domaine helping out.
Jean-Marc and Claudine currently have vines planted in three Grand Cru sites, including Le Montrachet, and 4 Premier Cru sites, one of those being La Boudriotte, which I had the pleasure of trying. La Boudriotte is a subsection of Mourgeot in Chassagne-Montrachet and can typically yield a more full-bodied wine than some of his other sites. However, the vintage always plays a part in that as well.
2010 as a vintage for Jean-Marc had a tough start with a deep freeze in December 2009 that killed off some of the vines in their Grand Cru sites, which contributed to the flowering of the vines having a late start. With that being said, the small crop they had was of excellent quality, and it shows in the 2010 Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte.
I was recently heading out to one of my favorite restaurants that allows you to bring your own wine to dinner. When I eat there, I love to order the duck, and I figured what a great time to try the 2010 Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte. As what you would expect from a Chassagne Montrachet, it was quite full and rich, however there was enough structure and balance to the wine to give it a very elegant style. On the nose, there is a minerality that only the terroir could produce, a hint of oak, with ripe pineapple. It paired beautifully with the smoked salmon over a citrus coated arugula appetizer, because of its crisp, racy finish and ripe fruit undertones. The duck confit paired perfectly from the fattiness in the meat along with the richness of the wine. This wine has a certain elegant and classy style that not all Chassagne Montrachet have. The versatile characteristics of this wine allow it to be enjoyed in any season, and at $69.95, it is a steal. This wine will still continue to age for years to come.
“...ripe white and yellow orchard fruit aromas that possess an attractive sense of layering. There is good generosity and volume to the concentrated, energetic, complex, long and refreshing finish that contrast a mid-palate sweetness against a very dry and relatively refined finish.” 91points -Burghound.com