2023 Beaune Grèves 1er Cru

Head winemaker Brian Sieve guided me through Domaine de Montille’s white and reds, ever a wellspring of information of what is going on in Burgundy and opinion. “It was the biggest year ever for de Montille for both colors. The 2018 vintage was bigger for whites, but not for the reds. We dropped fruit in early June, anything that might have created botrytis. The amount of warmth we had in general didn’t come as a canicule, more as warm weather without extreme lows. There were not many days over 35°C, so there was no shutdown in the vines. We treated the vines 12-14 times. We started picking around September 1 with both colors. The vineyards were pretty homogeneous, but the Chardonnay was picked first. It was a relatively easy year. There were no extremes except the amount of crop. It took 16 or 17 days to pick, but not in the afternoons on the hottest days. Because we knew we had a lack of space, we used slightly less whole cluster. In recent years, I have been doing less extraction. But in 2023, I would do more extraction when I might have hesitated before, because I did not want the wines to be too thin. The malos were relatively early, everything done by Christmas, and I used less than normal amounts of SO2. Alcohol levels are all in check, the highest 13.2%, and I did more saignée. All the whites are racked and will not clarify until the first cold snap. The 2023s will be bottled from January until May.”

This was a more variable set of wines due to the growing season that affected different appellations and vineyards in different ways. Aside from the consistent excellence of the Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts, the Pommard Rugiens-Bas and Volnay Taillepieds are the standouts, though if I had to choose one red, it would be their superb Corton Clos-du-Roi. Curiously enough, the whites do not quite match the level of the reds, although the Puligny Caillerets is worth seeking out.