I am often underwhelmed by the wines from the grand cru Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet. While they are a grand cru in price, they rarely rival a great Batard-Montrachet or Chevalier-Montrachet. Carillon's 1992 is the real thing. The wine exhibits a huge nose of coconuts, orange marmalade, sweet toasty new oak, and butter. Rich and full-bodied with tremendous precision, this backward, exceptionally well-balanced wine offers fine integrated acidity for the vintage. Approachable now, it promises to improve for at least 2-3 more years and last for a decade.
In 1992, Jacques and Francois Carillon have fashioned the finest white wines I have tasted from this domaine. While there has been an upward progression in quality since the mid-eighties, the 1992s exceed anything the Carillons have produced in over twenty years.
Importers: Select Vineyards (Neal Rosenthal), New York, NY and Vineyard Brands (Robert Haas), Chester, VT.