2014 Pommard Les Pezerolles 1er Cru

According to chef de cave Brian Sieve, this estate vinified with a higher percentage of whole clusters in 2014 than it had the previous year, as there was more phenolic ripeness. “We also put the breaks on extraction in our hailed-on parcels,” he told me in November. The fruit came in with potential alcohol between 12% and 12. 5% and the wines were chaptalized between 0. 5 and 1. 0 degree. Compared to the 2013, pHs were on the high side in 2014, typically between 3. 55 and 3. 6. Most of the 2014s had been racked in September and returned to neutral oak for their final months of élevage.

Not surprisingly, the Domaine de Montille wines from the Côte de Nuits are more successful than those from the Côte de Beaune; in fact, Etienne de Montille's two cuvées from Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts look to be stunners. De Montille is another farsighted Côte de Beaune vigneron who has benefitted dramatically by diversifying his holdings into the Côte de Nuits. Finding high-quality vineyards in the Côte de Nuits today is way harder—and far more expensive—than it was even a decade ago.