Domaine Jacques Prieur Montrachet 1999–2020
Sarah Marsh MW reports on the many striking highs and occasional lows of a tasting of a dozen vintages of the Domaine’s illustrious parcel
am fortunate to taste mature vintages of Burgundy grands crus fairly often, but a vertical of Montrachet, the greatest of grand cru whites, is pretty rare and sufficiently intriguing to merit a flying visit to Burgundy for a day to taste 12 vintages of Domaine Jacques Prieur Montrachet and take a walk in its illustrious parcel. In fact, the 0.5863ha (1.5-acre) parcel is divided into two distinct sections at the top of Montrachet in the Chassagne section. The highest section perches on a narrow terrace supported by a wall in the lieu-dit Dents de Chien which was officially ratified as Montrachet in 1921. Just 20.9 ares (0.5 acre), this is planted north-west, since the shelf is too shallow to be planted east-west, with not enough space for a horse to turn. All Jacques Prieur’s grands crus are worked by horse-drawn plow.
I The 45-year-old vines are packed
quite tightly, with just 75cm (30 inches) between each plant, rather than the typical 1m (3.3ft), and there is very little topsoil, which is thinner and stonier than in the parcel of 37.73 ares (1 acre) below, where the vines are 65 years old. The difference in altitude, from the lowest vines on the slope, to the top of Dents de Chiens, is about 12m (40ft). Incidentally, not all of Dents de Chien made it into the 1921 re-delimitation of Montrachet. Some is still classified as Chassagne premier cru. The Labruyère family of Moulin-à-
Vent owns an 80% share in Jacques Prieur, and fourth-generation Edouard Labruyère has plans to make two separate cuvées of Montrachet from the 2024 vintage, now that he has the space to do so, for the vertical tasting of
Left: Harvesters in one of Jacques Prieur's two Montrachet plots, below lieu-dit Dents de Chien.
Montrachet marked the completion of the extension and renovation of the winery and cellar in Meursault. The last occasion for a flight of Montrachet celebrated Nadine Gublin’s 25 years as winemaker. Nadine has been at the helm since 1990, and she runs a tight ship. As I walked briskly around the spacious and squeaky-clean winery with Nadine, she remarked, “As we say in France, you could eat off the floor.” She has doubled the number of tanks, which allows for smaller, more precise fermentations, dividing parcels and separating older and younger vines. And there is now a cold room, which
has the capacity to hold a whole day’s harvest—much more efficient than the storage container pressed into action as a refrigerator in recent warm vintages. As Martin Prieur, whose family retain a 20% share in the business, reflects: “Twenty years ago, it was important to have a vibrating table; now, with climate change, it’s a cold room.”
TASTING 2020 Montrachet Grand Cru
Nadine recalls that 2020 was one of the hottest vintages since 2003. “We picked on August 27. I didn’t expect the juice to be so fresh. Global warming is not an issue. The heat burns the malic but does not affect the tartaric. We never add acidity.” Edouard felt it was too early to comment. Rich, dense, and full-bodied, this grabs the palate. A firmly structured wine, with muscular minerality and tannin. A bit of bruiser at the moment. Both grippy and glossy, it is robustly textured. Raw and ruthless in its youth, this requires time to settle, allowing the bold elements to integrate. The richness certainly reflects the hot summer, but there is balance. The concentration of fruit is matched by a core of freshness, which is crucial to the success of this wine. It punches through into a powerful and persistent finish. Impressive presence and excellent aging potential. 2030–50. | 98
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 81
All photography by Jon Wyand
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