Ramonet in Alsace

Perfect tastings and lunch – with Montrachet from Jeroboam – and other treats

By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 

3 May 2016

What a super surprise to taste a series of great wines from this fabulous Burgundy estate, in the heart of Alsace. The Ramonet family are friends with the Barthelmé family of Domaine Albert Mann in Wettolsheim, which produces some of Alsace’s best wines.

Each year, the Barthelmés organise an open door tasting with lunch, and I was so happy to have attended, particularly as the day was sunny and springy! We enjoyed many superb wines, and a fine lunch of fresh roasted vegetables, savory salad, a suckling pig barbecued on a spit, home-made potatoes au gratin, a variety of great French cheeses and sumptuous desserts. I mean, how often do you see eclairs – in this case vanilla and chocolate – cut on location, and then amazingly fresh strawberry/raspberry tarts. But I digress…

Participants – many from nearby restaurants interested in trying the wines – enjoyed a fine series of wines to taste plus several amazing wines from large formats from both Albert Mann and Ramonet. For example a Jeroboam of Ramonet Montrachet 2009, which was marvelously fresh tasting from the large format, with such opulence yet subtle density. There were older vintages, too, like a fresh and precise Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling by Albert Mann, from the 1994 vintage. I will get to my Albert Mann notes later but for now, here the notes from Ramonet. In the video, above, I speak with Anne-France Ramonet, daughter of Jean Claude Ramonet, the owner – and he was also there!

As usual, wines in bold, I liked in particular; when red and bold, even more. And when underlined, too, a kind of wine nirvana!
  • 2014 Domaine Ramonet Bourgogne-Aligoté – France, Burgundy, Bourgogne-Aligoté
    Clean and crisp, and although not as full bodied as the Chardonnay wines, to be expected. A very pure expression of the Aligoté in a vibrant vintage for whites. (90 pts.)
  • 2013 Domaine Ramonet Bouzeron – France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Bouzeron
    I like this for its more evident saline aspects, perfect with oysters. (90 pts.)
  • 2014 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
    Are you frigging kidding me? This is “just” village level? Amazing for its aromatics that manage to combine wet stone, citrus, white flower, and touches of oak (about 15% new oak) and, well, the nose already conveys “depth” happily followed through on the palate, medium+ to full bodied. Hell, easily full bodied, but in a very fresh sense, loving the acidity from 2014. Rock and roll, this is Burgundy! (94 pts.)
  • 2014 Domaine Ramonet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru
    Clean crisp and pure expression here of a premier cru terroir perhaps more precise that the village Chassagne Montrachet tasted just before, but lacking a bit of body – by comparison. Anyway, a very fine wine! (93 pts.)
  • 2014 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
    Take the village level and add more precision and length, and there you are! (95 pts.)
  • 2013 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
    This terroir seems to have a bit more body than the Les Vergers but not as focused, and methinks there is a vintage difference. 2014 seems to have more focus than 2013. But let’s no quibble, there is freshness and density, and this is darn good white Burgundy. (93 pts.)
  • 2013 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
    What opulence and density combined in a bottle. I was not taking careful notes, but there was much going on here: layers of flavor, freshness, and a full body leading to a lingering finish. Superb wine! (97 pts.)
  • 2009 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet*- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
    Make that “I really, really like”. Coming from Jeroboam, this wine was just amazing. There were layers and layers of flavors combining white flower, white pear and apricot and wet stone, among others. Sure this is coming from a solar vintage. But it hardly lacked vivacity, there was brightness to the wine, that kept it tense and taut and eager to go into your mouth. Believe me, many participants kept coming back for more, as did I. (98 pts.)
  • 2013 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
    Lovely and delicate red cherry notes, with much purity and elegance overall. A wine that invites further drinking – and keeps you gently happy. (89 pts.)
  • 2013 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Boudriotte Rouge – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
    Compared to the village wine, this has more substance and the cherry aspects seem just a bit “roasted”. I like both for their styles, but give a slight edge to this premier cru, as it is more dense. (90 pts.)

Many thanks to Marie Therese Barthelmé for the invitation.

 

Share This

One Comment on “Ramonet in Alsace

  1. Really cool article Thank you for Sharing.. I love the wines from Ramonet. I was about to buy some more 2011 and 2013 until I read your article sounds like 2014 are going to be amazing…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories