The historical reputation of the Bader-Mimeur Vineyards on the appellation Chassagne-Montrachet is mainly due to the vineyard of Château de Chassagne-Montrachet, its very qualitative clos and outstanding buildings just at the entrance of the village of Chassagne.
From 1920 to 1990, the family has also developed an important trade activity. But nowadays, the 4th generation represented by Marie-Pierre Bader and husband Alain Fossier chose to refocus on their core metier of wine grower, while keeping a few carefully selected negociant cuvees to meet the demand of a big part of their customers: Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Volnay …
The 5 hectares in one piece planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on clay and limestone soils produce classy, rich and complex wines, especially thanks to vines aged up to 75 years for the Pinot Noirs.
The 3 other hectares of the estate are shared between the terroirs of Chassagne-Montrachet (close to Puligny), Saint-Aubin 1er Cru “En Remilly” and Bourgogne Côte d’Or, planted in the village of Chassagne-Montrachet.
The vineyard is maintained sustainably with a continuous and close supervision thanks to a very concentrated situation, all the plots are located at less than 1 km from the winery.
During vinification the idea is to interfere the less possible with the wine and let it give the best expression of the terroir. Moreover the estate crafts the wines in the purest Burgundian tradition and strives to make wines worth ageing (about 10 years for the Villages and white 1st Crus and 15-20 years for the red Villages).
For the whites (Chardonnay and Aligoté), once the grapes are pressed and the juice has decanted 12 hours, the alcoholic fermentation is operated directly in the vats, naturally, without added yeasts and can last several months. The same is done for the malolactic fermentation. The white wines are matured in oak barrels (20% new ones) for 10-12 months in the underground vaulted cellars that enable a natural control of the temperature and humidity.
For the Pinot Noir, the red grapes are destemmed, often by 100% over the last years, and the berries are delicately poured in large conic oak vats. The grapes are left there for 2-3 weeks at low temperature with two daily pigeages and pumping over at the end of the fermentation (natural too). After this maceration, the wine is racked by gravity to the barrels. The red wine is then matured for 15-18 months.
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