Bourgogne Blanc 2016/2018, Clos-du-Château, Domaine de Montille

Bourgogne Blanc 2016/2018, Clos-du-Château, Domaine de Montille32. 95 per bottle New 2018 vintage ABV 13% Tasting notes The 2018 Clos du Chteau matures in just 5% new 600 litre and 500 litre barrels, has a potent bouquet with white peach and vanilla aromas, quite forward and very attractive. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, lightly spiced with pear and hints of gooseberry on the taut and linear finish. Maybe the best I have encountered from the five hectare clos. BY NEAL MARTIN JANUARY 10,

£32.95 per bottle

New 2018 vintage

ABV 13%

Tasting notes
The 2018 Clos du Château matures in just 5% new 600-litre and 500-litre barrels, has a potent bouquet with white peach and vanilla aromas, quite forward and very attractive. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, lightly spiced with pear and hints of gooseberry on the taut and linear finish. Maybe the best I have encountered from the five-hectare clos.

BY NEAL MARTIN | JANUARY 10, 2019 Score 89-91 Drinking date 2020-2028

The 2017 vintage at Domaine de Montille started off with a very tricky spring.

The vineyards on the slopes withstood the frost, unlike in 2016, where the frost damaged, the vineyard untypically, unevenly and mainly in the white vineyards. The 2017 spring concentrated the cold in low lying parcels meaning that the majority of vignerons lost buds in their Bourgogne or even Aligoté parcels. The loss is usually considered acceptable compared to losing fruit in village or primer cru appellations.

The 2017 reds are of great freshness of fruit, with notes of raspberry, strawberry and other red fruits including sour cherry, with a floral touch and spice passing from the entire harvest. The palate is full, ethereal, with crunchy fruit and slightly acidic.

The tannins are very well integrated in the fruits with a rather light texture and silky, comparable to the 2010 and 2002 vintages. What’s surprising and enjoyable, is the salinity present in our whites, and also in our reds, which is quite rare. The balance between the fruit and the structure allowed us to work with high percentages of whole cluster for many of our cuvées.

2017 is a particular vintage; thanks to the quality of the tannins and more generally the profile of the wines, theses will be pleasant to taste young (especially for the wines of Beaune, Volnay, Pommard) and also after ageing more than 10 years (especially Corton and Côte de Nuits). It is quite rare and deserves to be mentioned.

In white, it is a great vintage, crystallized, beautiful aromatic complexity, mixed with hawthorn, white flowers and citrus fruit. Early harvest, started on the 29th of September, so we were able to quite the freshness and tension of the vintage. The texture is fluid, the mouths are big, deep and saline. It is closer to 2014 and 2007, than the last vintages will be in my opinion, ready earlier (3 to 7 years) even if these wines will flourish over time.

Enjoy the vintage !