Deux Montille, Batard Montrachet Grand Cru 2006

robert_parker93

Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

Clover, honey, lemon, and chalk dust rise from the glass of Deux Montille 2006 Batard-Montrachet. Remarkably bright, lean, refined and full of primary fruit juiciness on the palate, this asserts its grand cru stature in a finish that positively sticks to the palate with resin, citrus zest, chalk dust and mineral salts. There should be a decade of potential here, with the austerity and aggressive brightness toned down in the process. The small, five year old negociant business of siblings Alix and Etienne de Montille is designed to remain small and to focus almost exclusively on white wines. Alix de Montille (who is also responsible for the whites of Domaine de Montille) has been avowedly influenced by her husband, Jean-Marc Roulot, and clarity, purity, and refinement are the watchwords in this cellar. “I like lively wines,” she explains, “just as I like lively people.” De Montille has had notable success in sourcing and exercising the necessary quality control over exemplary fruit from some of Burgundy’s less prestigious appellation, although experience has shown that such contracts can be as difficult to maintain as those that govern more celebrated sites. De Montille performed no batonnage, and generally shortened her 2006’s stays in barrel (overwhelmingly demi-muids, 10-20% new). A number of the wines were in tank, waiting bottling, when I tasted them. (A powerful Pouilly-Fuisse from two excellent sites in Vergisson, as well as a rich, promising St.-Aubin Sur Gamay could not be fairly assessed while on their finings; a Chevalier-Montrachet of enormous potential was not re-tasted after malo-lactic; and there were several wines I did not taste at all.) Various importers, including Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040; also, a Thomas Calder Selection, Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29