Montrachet – the historic evidence and the expansion in 1921

If one look at the old sources the area and borders of the Montrachet vineyard were not very clear and well defined, and it was not until 1921 Montrachet found it’s current size and borders.

The current size of Montrachet is 7.998 ha divided almost equally between Chassagne-Montrachet (3.9873 ha) and (4.0107 ha) in the Puligny-Montrachet appellation.

According to the literature the size and borders were fixed in 1921 in a “legal decision” where some plots and areas were excluded from using the name “Montrachet”, whereas others were included in the so called Vrai Montrachet vineyard – Vrai meaning “True” Montrachet – as opposed to Chevalier-Montrachet and Batard-Montrahcet … and so forth.

Before this decision some plots outside the current Montrachet also used the name – apparently based on different definitions of the area “Montrachet”.

According to Lavalle ¹ who quotes Claude Courtépé – that even back in 1627 the terms Vrai Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet and Batard-Montrachet were used about the different parts of the Montrachet area.

This sort of explain the challenge the different writes had when defining the vineyards in the early works. As the Vrai Montrachet always have been considered as the best and most expensive part of the Montrachet area, owners have been interested to use the name when they sell their wines – simply to get a higher price.

This was an open door for discussions and different interpretations of the definition of the Vrai Monrachet. This was however finally settled in 1921 by a court ruling – ending presumably many decades of debate.

This however returned other questions – which vineyards and plots (if any) were once considered to be a part of the famous Vrai Monrachet – and also importantly – which were never really considered a part of Vrai Montrachet – as one could get the impression that many plots were considered a part at some point – by some at least.

I have crunched some number and looked at some old cadastre maps and books – to take a closer look at these questions – and to see which areas and plots have been added to Montrachet over the years.

Lets get geeky!

Montrachet according to Lavalle 1855

Lavalle mentioned the area of the Puligny side of Montrachet as 3.9530 ha, very close to the current size of the Puligny section of Montrachet. So far so good!!

It’s however different with the Chassagne-Montrachet side, where Lavalle quote the area of Le Montrachet as 13.5390 ha, more than 9.5 ha larger than the current Chassagne part of Montrachet.

Latest tasting notes for this vineyard

• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet 2007 June 3, 2023
• Bouchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2016 June 20, 2018
• Bouchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2014 June 15, 2018
• Remoissenet, Montrachet 1998 May 23, 2018
• Bourchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2015 April 14, 2018
• Maison Joseph Drouhin, Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche 2015 March 30, 2018
• Bouchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2014 May 20, 2016
• Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Montrachet 2009 April 29, 2016
• Bouchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2014 March 8, 2016
• Domaine Comte Lafon, Montrachet 2002 January 31, 2016
• Domaine Ramonet, Montrachet 1993 January 31, 2016
• Remoissenet. Montrachet 1997 October 18, 2015
• Remoissenet, Montrachet 1982 October 14, 2015
• Domaine Ramonet, Montrachet 2008 May 10, 2015
• Comte Lafon, Montrachet 2009 April 11, 2015
• Bouchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2012 May 5, 2014
• Comte Lafon, Montrachet 2009 May 27, 2013
• Comte Lafon, Montrachet 2004 May 25, 2013
• Bouchard Pere et Fils, Montrachet 2011 May 5, 2013
• Domaine Ramonet, Montrachet 2008 March 24, 2013

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