Tasting with winemaker Brian Sieve at de Montille is always a pleasurable
education, and once again we were treated to an impressively consistent set of
wines, including the domaine’s best whites since 2014, accompanied by his
typically measured appraisal of the vintage and the market. Regarding the
latter, Brian suggests that prices are due to stabilize but that demand is
relentless and quality high - “your top domaines are going to swing and miss on
very few vintages”, and with certain domaines guiding particular crus on a
specific trajectory, 2017 could be seen as excellent value in a few year’s time.



Of the vintage, Brian says 2017 is built for serious pleasure, with svelte
tannins and juicy structure holding plenty of strawberries and raspberries.
Preferring to pick early when grapes still have two thirds tartaric acid, and
only a third malic acid, he believes the domaine’s 2017 reds have the supple
richness and concentration of 2016 with the quantity, acidity and primary red
fruit profile of 2011. Easy to understand, balanced and graceful, with alcohol
bordering 13%, 2017 is good news for drinkers and yet he sees nothing to suggest
the wines won’t age well.



Etienne de Montille meanwhile begins by quoting neighbour Michel Lafarge who
said 2017 is “a mix of ‘59 and ‘61”. In his own reds, Etienne sees a rare
vintage with plenty of plush, fleshy fruit and early integration, a sense of
floral freshness like 2007, but with tension and spiciness due to their
preference for varying degrees of whole cluster. This is allied to a rare
intensity of minerality and salinity, accompanied by no harsh, square tannins,
and so he is delighted by the sense of harmony in the wines. And then there are
the whites… “best since 2014”, without quite the same density and volume, but
with same transparency, salinity and vivacity.
/Tom Harrow