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93-96 WA.
"According to Lardiere, the Batard had 13.7% natural sugar, eclipsing the Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles's 13.5%. I've been lucky enough to drink the '85 and '86 Chevaliers recently, and I can attest to the fact that these wines age admirably. The 1995's nose displays butter, minerals, stones and spice. The flavors present fabulous harnessed fruit with well-integrated acidity. This high-class wine possesses formidable structure and impressive persistence . . . . Regrettably, there were only 100 cases produced of this sublime Chevalier . . . . Pierre-Henri Gagey, the director of the highly respected Louis Jadot negociant house and his extremely talented winemaker Jacques Lardiere, are excited about their '95s. Like everybody else in the Cote, they saw the flowering on their whites get seriously damaged by the May snow fall. This resulted in a 30% reduction of their overall production, with some vineyards having yields more than 50% below the norm (Montrachet for example). The resulting grapes were very small and packed with concentrated juice, thereby providing fabulous raw material for Lardiere to display his considerable talent." Wine Advocate #110, Apr 1997 |