2010 Beaune Grèves 1er Cru

Etienne de Montille describes 2010 as similar to 2002, but with less acidity. He adds that 2010 is a vintage where the end result was less apparent early on than years like 2006 and 2007, where the wines turned out pretty much as originally expected. According to de Montille, there isn't a huge difference between the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. That may be true here, but in my view it is not the case in a broader context. De Montille tends to pick early, and his wines in the cellar also finish their malos fairly quickly, which is how things played out in 2010 as well. Most of the 2010s had been racked into steel at the time of my visit, except for the Corton Clos du Roi, Clos Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts, Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts Christiane, which I tasted from barrel. The harvest started on September 20 and ran through the 28th. Some wines were lightly chaptalized. De Montille planned to start bottling in January 2012 with a handful of the entry-level bottlings. I also tasted the 2009s. I will have more to say in our April issue, but for now I can share that the wines have developed beautifully. De Montille's decision to pick early certainly seems to have paid off.

Tasting red wines with Etienne de Montille is always a fascinating experience because his use of whole clusters varies so widely from cuvee to cuvee, if not vintage to vintage. Some wines are totally destemmed and obviously made to offer easy, early drinkability, while others are two-thirds or even 100% vendange entier and built for extended aging. And as he uses very little new oak for most of his Cote de Beaune offerings, the differences provided by vinification with the stems can be all the more pronounced. De Montille himself is remarkably willing to admit when he thinks his choices worked well and when they didn't. All the wines noted in my coverage this year, with the exception of the Corton Clos du Roi and the two cuvees of Vosne-Romanee Malconsorts, had been racked in September and were on their fine lees in tank at the time of my visit. (Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; Veritas, Beverly Hills, CA)