We are delighted to have secured an allocation of these sought-after and much admired Burgundies. Their hallmark is elegance and finesse and they come from some of the very best terroir on the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune. Our first shipment includes a couple of gems from the Domaine de Montille, several from their property Chateau de Puligny Montrachet and a few from their negociant business: Deux Montille Frere – Soeur. We have tiny quantities of each so would urge Burgundy fans to get their Christmas lists in quickly!
The De Montille story
As with all good stories, this one takes us on a journey through time. The De Montille family's origins can be traced back to the middle of the 17th century with the Lords of Commeau. Howeve the domaine itself was created in the 1750s and comprised vineyards in the very heart of Burgundy: Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 'les Amoureuses'...in total, 12 hectares of magnificent terroir, planted with Pinot Noir in the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. Though today these parcels are highly prized, unfortunately they were sold off as and when the family's financial situation dictated. 'At the time,' notes Étienne de Montille, 'it was more common to sell vines than fields, as fields were more profitable.' Little by little, the ancestors chipped away at the domaine. In Burgundy, there is a saying: it only takes one generation to undo the work of many.... When Hubert (Etienne’s father) decided to stop this erosion, the family domaine had been reduced to its smallest size of barely 3 hectares, composed of various parcels of Volnay 1er Cru.
Hubert
Hubert de Montille was a legend within Burgundy. I first met him on the train between Dijon and Beaune. For him it was the daily commute between his career as a lawyer and his beloved vines. This pioneering and passionate man engraved each vintage in his memory. Beginning with his first harvest in 1947, he broke with the custom of selling wine to negociants, being one of the first to believe in the future of the bottle. This new in-house strategy played an important role in the future of the domaine. 'When you sell your wine in bottles, and not in bulk, the approach is completely different,' explains his son Étienne. Hubert, sadly, died in 2014 but the domaine is now in the capable hands of his son Etienne and daughter Alix. Each appellation, each 'climat' (a small parcel of land, sometimes even smaller than an appellation), that the monks classified and cultivated for over a millennia, gives a wine its distinct personality. Étienne explains, 'Above all my father looked to respect the authenticity of each of his terroirs by making wines of moderate alcohol, elegance and refined aromatic purity.'
Étienne and Alix de Montille learned about viticulture from an early age. But bringing them into the family wine business Hubert insisted both of his offspring had 'a real profession'. And, while the children followed in the family footsteps with legal careers, the inevitable return to the vine came quickly.
By 2001, Etienne had returned full-time to the domaine and the Château de Puligny-Montrachet. He took full control and asserted his style and philosophy: biodynamic farming, whole cluster fermentation to add aromatics and silkier wines with less austerity. All the while, he remained true to the vision he learned by his father's side: authenticity, purity, elegance and balance.
In 2003, Alix also returned to her childhood love, Volnay. She and Étienne created 'Deux Montille Sœur-Frère', a negociant house devoted primarily to white wines. 'All our Sœur-Frère grapes are rigorously selected, harvested and vinified with the same know-how and philosophy as our domaine grapes,' explains Alix. Since 2006 she has taken over responsibility for the domaine's whites with Étienne watching over the reds.
Étienne began to enlarge the domaine with some exceptional acquisitions: in 2005 he brought back into the fold some Clos Vougeot and a parcel just next to la Tâche in Vosne-Romanée "Les Malconsorts" ! By 2011, the domaine counted 20 hectares of vines, of which 75% were Premiers or Grands Crus from both Côtes.
The wines:
Domaine de Montille
Pommard les Cras
Volnay 1er Cru
Beaune 1er Cru
Chateau de Puligny Montrachet
Puligny Montrachet
Clos du Chateau, Bourgogne
Saint Romain
Saint Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly
Deux Montille Frere Soeur
Meursault AC 2011
Rully AC 2012 (Deux Montille Frere Soeur)
