Jasper Morris MW, insideburgundy.com – Reviewed June 2021
Lenaïc and Samuel are the 6th generation at the domaine. Their Bachey grandfather had a single daughter who became a psychologist, so the domaine was rented out from the mid-1970s. She returned to the domaine in 1993, having married a Legros, and was joined by Lenaïc in 1999 and Samuel in 2005. They now run a 19 hectare domaine, having taken back the final vineyards from farming or sharecropping contracts in 2017. Everything needed renewing and it was not until 2008 that they started to build serious volumes of domaine bottled wines. They now bottle everything except what departs in exchange for other grapes to enable them to increase their range of references. In terms of vineyard holdings, two-thirds of the domaine is red, but in terms of number of wines made, the whites take the lead, supplemented by several negociant cuvées labelled Bachey-Legros & Fils.
The vineyards are farmed conventionally and cultured yeasts are used for fermentation, two areas which might usefully be looked at in the future. The white grapes receive a light crushing, are pressed and settled, then straight to barrel for fermentation, no stirring, racked to tank after 12 months then bottled before the end of the year. The key vineyard, which came back under their control in 1998, is the Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot Petits Clos, which benefits from 70 year old vines.
All the domaine reds come from really old vines too, planted between 1935 and 1955 plus the Fourneaux plot of Clos Rousseau which dates back to 1914. The grapes are destemmed, though kept as whole berries, and given a long but non-extractive cuvaison for a month. The oak regime is for 20% new wood for the lesser appellations, 20-25% for village wines and 25-30% for the crus. Different coopers and toasting levels are used depending on the cuvée. These are dark coloured, powerful wines with some presence.
