It is International Chardonnay Day on Thursday the 26th of May and we have prepared a case of white burgundy from Domaine de Montille’s négociant arm to be enjoyed on the day. There are two bottles each of three wines from 2018 which embody the warmer growing conditions and luminosity of the vintage. These are Chardonnays with wonderful freshness, poise and tension.
Dear Reader,
The négociant arm of Domaine de Montille was started in 2003 by Étienne de Montille and his sister Alix. When Alix left the Domaine in 2014, Brian Sieve joined to take over the winemaking responsibilities and has been there ever since.
Based in the village of Meursault, most of Domaine de Montille’s holdings are in red wine villages like Pommard, Volnay, Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-Saint-Georges. But in 2012, Étienne purchased Château de Puligny-Montrachet from French bank Crédit Foncier, thus creating a foundation for him to streamline his involvement and range of wines across red and white. Until recently, wines produced from Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne went under the name Château de Puligny-Montrachet. Today, all wines are now simply divided into Domaine and Maison de Montille. With regards to philosophy in the vineyard, Étienne was very much ahead of the curve as Domaine de Montille had already been practicing organic farming from 1995 and then instituted biodynamic farming principles from 2005.
The Maison was established in order to acquire carefully selected grapes from other growers that would both complete and compliment the Domaine’s white wine range. The attraction for the consumer is that the Maison wines are produced in the exact same manner as the Domaine wines, but come from lesser known climats and are therefore more affordable. Whether Maison or Domaine, both sets of wines carry the de Montille name because they are all made by Brian Sieve in one location and according to the same high standards.
”Domaine de Montille is one of Burgundy’s greatest estates. The wines are made for ageing but in recent years, since Hubert’s son Etienne has taken over, the Domaine has moved towards expressing greater aromatic potential in the wines…The wines still benefit from ageing and develop an abundance of complexity as they mature.”
JancisRobinson.com
Maison de Montille 6-bottle case
R 3,590
*Price is per 6-bottle mixed case and incl. VAT
Maison de Montille | Bourgogne Chardonnay | 2018 | 2 x bottles
Maison de Montille | Montagny Premier Cru ”Les Coères” | 2018 | 2 x bottles
Maison de Montille | Saint-Romain | 2018 | 2 x bottles
The Bourgogne Chardonnay is produced from declassified Montagny grapes. Montagny is an appellation situated in the Côte Chalonnaise, below Mercurey. There are 49 premier cru classified climats in Montagny, one of which is ”Les Coères” and the second 2018 wine in the selection today. The Saint-Romain blanc is produced from declassified grapes from three vineyards: Jarron, Sous Le Château and Sous La Roche. The appellation of Saint-Romain is situated in the Côte de Beaune, above Saint-Aubin and Auxey-Duresses.
All three wines here are vinified in larger, older barrels thus not masking the fruit with oak character. These 2018s are fresh, elegant and well balanced white burgundies which will be drinking beautifully. (Since 2011, all white de Montille wines have been bottled under Diam cork closures).
Thank you and wishing you a great Chardonnay day for the 26th!
