2014 Domaine de Montille, Bourgogne Rouge, France.
Etienne de Montille’s stylish and open-knit base red Burgundy really delivers in quality and class for an entry level wine and is hard to resist even now. The 2014 Domaine de Montille Pinot Noir shows pretty detail and a light to medium bodied with satiny red fruits, sweet/succulent floral tones and has plenty of mineral and spice, like most of the Domaine wines this one comes from select plots in the Cote de Beaune and farmed in most cases all organic. Etienne and his sister Alix craft each wine with extreme care and passion, they focus on making a wine that can age, so most vintages, you’d want to hold many years before enjoying them, but lucky for us the 2014’s are bursting with round and open flavors allowing youthful drinking pleasures and less patience is required, even though it will certainly gain with another 3 to 5 years in the cellar. I opened a bottle of this pure and delightful de Montille in February 2017, and while it starts a bit tight, it proved a big hit at the table, let’s just say it got a lot of happy attention and no one was disappointed, and it was up against some serious wines. Bright and focused the 2014 de Montille Bourgogne Rouge leads with a hint of smoke, flinty/graphite, wilted roses and dusty plum with a very appealing ruby and light catching garnet hue in the glass, leading to a sweet palate of silken red cherries along with tangy currant, cranberry, strawberry and raspberry fruits as well as chalky stones, minty herb, fresh earth and peppery spices. This is a Pinot Noir that gives what is expected and a little bit more with a serious and sensual sense of poise and polish, but not completely tame with subtle tannins and vigor, impressive to be sure, enjoy over the next 3 to 10 years.
($40 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
