2022 Domaine Ramonet Meursault 1er Cru "Blagny"

Pierre Ramonet arrived in Chassagne-Montrachet in the late 1920s with, as the family tells it, a knapsack and not much else, bought grapes and made wine until he could afford vines, and in 1934 made his first purchase in Les Ruchottes, the premier cru that would make his name. Frank Schoonmaker found him early and sent the wines to America, and Pierre never stopped buying: Bâtard and Bienvenues from Domaine Coquet in the 1950s, and in 1978, at 72, a quarter hectare of Montrachet paid for with his savings. He died in 1994 at 88, having handed the work to his grandsons Noël and Jean-Claude a decade earlier. Since 2013 the labels have read Jean-Claude Ramonet, and Jean-Claude now runs the domaine with his daughter Anne-France. The holdings are what every white Burgundy lover dreams about: Montrachet, Bâtard, Bienvenues and a sliver of Chevalier, plus Ruchottes, Caillerets, Morgeot, Boudriotte, Vergers and Chaumées in Chassagne, with Saint-Aubin and Puligny alongside. The cellar is old-fashioned and unhurried, with fermentation on native yeasts and 12 to 15 months in barrel, new oak kept to a modest share even for the grands crus. Decanter calls Ramonet one of the best white wine producers on the planet, and we’re not inclined to argue: these are the Chassagnes we buy whenever we can, with the Ruchottes and the Morgeot the ones that turn up most often on our own shelves.