Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet – Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru ‘Clos Saint-Jean’ 1985

🏰 Introduction and historical background

Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet is a traditional, family-run winery in the heart of Chassagne-Montrachet. It was founded through the union of two of the region’s most prominent winemaking dynasties – the Bachelets and the Ramonets. According to legend, Pierre Ramonet, son of the famous Claude Ramonet, married a Bachelet heiress, thereby bringing their vineyards into the family’s possession.

The estate, now runby the fourth generation in the form of Alain Bonnefoy and his wife Marie-Paule, cultivates around 13 hectares of vineyards. It is one of the Côte de Beaune’sbest-kept secrets – with no website or social media presence of its own, but boasting one of the village’s most comprehensive ranges of single-vineyard wines, comprising no fewer than 12 different Chassagne-Montrachet cuvées – both white and red.

🍇 The vineyard: Clos Saint-Jean

Clos Saint-Jean is one of the oldest estates in Burgundy – its history can be traced back to the year 589 AD, when it was owned by a Benedictine monastery.

The vineyard is characterised by several distinctive features:

Clos Saint-Jean is capable of producing both outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Connoisseurs often compare the red wines from this vineyard to the elegant wines of Volnay – a compliment to their finesse.

🍷 What makes it special: a red wine from Chassagne

Here lies a key distinguishing feature of the wine in question: the 1985 Clos Saint-Jean from Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet is a red wine – specifically, a single-varietal Pinot Noir.

This may come as a surprise to some, as Chassagne-Montrachet is today best known for its world-famous white wines. Historically, however, the village was a red wine-producing villagebefore the Second World War. It was only when the international market began to demand mineral-driven white wines that many winegrowers increasingly shifted their focus to Chardonnay. Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet, however, continues to uphold both traditions to this day.

The vines at Clos Saint-Jean are renownedfor producing powerful, structured red wines with remarkable ageing potential. The average age of the vines across the entire estate is around 40 years.

🍾 Vinification and ageing

Wine-making at Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet follows a traditional philosophy:

• Cultivation: Integrated agriculture with HVE certification (Haute Valeur Environnementale).

• Ageing: The red wines are aged for 12 to 14 months in oak barrels, with 20 to 25 per cent of the barrels being new . (White wines are aged slightly longer, for up to 17 months).

• Bottling: The red wines are usually bottled in mid-March.

📅 The 1985 vintage in context

The 1985 vintage is regarded as excellent to outstanding in Burgundy . It was a warm, dry year that produced concentrated, tannic and age-worthy wines. For a Pinot Noir from Clos Saint-Jean, this means that after almost 40 years of bottle ageing , the wine should have reached its peak –or even surpassed it – making a tasting an extremely exciting experience.

💰 Market and auction data

The 1985 Clos Saint-Jean is an absolute rarity. No specific individual ratings (such as those by Robert Parker or Burghound) could be found for this particular bottle.

However ,an auction record from Christie’s dating from February 2025 gives an indication of its market value. There, a mixed case of Burgundy comprising eight bottles was auctioned, which also includeda bottle of Bachelet-Ramonet, Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge Clos Saint-Jean 1985:

This low hammer price compared to the estimate suggests that demand for these very old bottles was low in this particular auction – possibly due to their condition or because the risk of a poorly stored bottle was deemed too high . In addition, other 1985 wines from Bachelet-Ramonet were also on offer, such as the Clos de la Boudriotte.

📌 Summary

The Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet – Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru ‘Clos Saint-Jean’ 1985 is a historical relic from a time when Chassagne-Montrachet was still proud of its red wines.

• It comes from one of Burgundy’s oldest estates (dating back to 589 AD).

• It is producedby one of the village’s mostdiscreet top-tier estates, which emerged from the union of the Bachelet and Ramonet families.

• It is a Pinot Noir from a terroir renowned for its elegance and finesse – and one that connoisseurs compare to Volnay.

• With a bottle of this age, its condition and storage history are crucial to the tasting experience.

Anyone lucky enough to find a bottle of this wine should open it with the utmost respect – it is a piece of Burgundy’s history that, after almost 40 years, is waiting to recount (perhaps for the last time) what Chassagne-Montrachet once tasted like.