Lean and brightly focused superbly balanced putting its spicy honeyed pear pineapple and hazelnut flavors practically on-point like a ballerina striking a beautiful attitude. Delicious already but should be at its best from 1999 on.--Ramonet Montrachet vertical. 140 cases made. -HS

A mature yet still vibrant and wonderfully airy and complex nose merges into bright punchy and precise flavors that are superbly well balanced and powerful though they perhaps don't quite have quite the volume of the finest vintages of what is often a monumental wine. However as is usually the case chez Ramonet the balance and underlying structure will enable this to age gracefully for years to come particularly in magnum format.

Because the Domaine Ramonet enjoys a mythical status it is fashionable to criticize the wines as not being as exceptional as they used to be. Don't fall for this line of thinking. This domaine produces some of the finest Chardonnays in the world. While other domaines have begun making superb wines over recent years (i.e. Amiot-Bonfils and Colin-Deleger) and others have always made wines as profound as Ramonet in particular Michel Niellon the name Ramonet still carries with it a magical significance. If there is any criticism to be leveled it is that vintages in the late eighties and early nineties appear to possess high acidity. The domaine adamantly denies doing any acidification.