Domaine de Montmain – “Le Clos du Château”

Burgundy is full of surprises and unknown gems … and while I think I know the Nuits-Saint-Georges area I must admit that a 30 ha estate just a few km from my home can slip by.

LE DOMAINE DE MONTMAIN in Villars-Fontaine

Villars-Fontaine

The village Villars-Fontaine is up and above on the Côte just a few kilometers from the core of Nuits-Saint-George.

Here we find a to me unknown estate with a large and interesting production of both red and whites … and with a fine potential for producing good wines.

The estate was founded by Bernard Hudelot in 1973 and is now owned by the young Mathieu Piecourt who is running the estate and trying to modernize and revitalize the estate and the wines made here.

The wines

The estate produces a lineup of reds and whites from the main grape varieties used in Burgundy.

The reds

• Coteaux Bourguignons – Gamay Vieilles Vignes
• Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Le Haut du Village”
• Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Les Genévrières”

​The Whites

• Bourgogne Aligoté
• Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Le Clos du Château”
• Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Le Rouard”
• Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Les Jiromées Grande Tradition”

In my view, the potential is most obvious in the whites as they benefit from the fine acidity and minerality of the area.

There are several exciting wines on the list, and it seems that the aging potential is quite excellent… opening up for a multitude of expressions.

Personally I found the Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Le Clos du Château” most interesting as it expressed the virtues I value the most from the Hautes Côtes de Nuits wines … freshness, vividness and a nice mineral expression.

Tasting note

I tasted a range of wines rapidly on the estate and found the Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Le Clos du Château” 2022 most interesting, and I had the opportunity to take two bottles of this wine with me home to Nuits-Saint-Georges, to taste it under well know circumstances and from my own stems.

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Domaine Montmain Hautes Côtes de Nuits – “Le Clos du Château” 2022

The Le Clos du Château is a fresh and vivid wine although it has a good and quite intense midpalate. Medium weight and with quite some reduction starting out. The nose has quite some citrus notes … grapefruit or perhaps rather the Japanese Yuzu. The nose offer also has a slight fennel hint and quite some hay. A quite complex wine for the area. Should be served cold as this does give the nose and palate a fresher appeal with the minerality stepping slightly up. It will keep … but prefer to drink it fresh and vivid.

(Drink from Now) – Very Good – (87-88p)

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Get the wine

The wines can be acquired at the estate:

Domaine Montmain

10, chemin des Beveys

 21700 Villars-Fontaine

Tél. : (+33) 03 80 62 31 94

Web: domainemontmain.com