The family's origins can be traced back to the middle of the 17th century at Creancey in the Auxois region, with the Lord of Commeau. The domaine pre-dates the revolution, and was created in 1750. It was renamed de Montille after the union of Marie Eleonore Chauvelot de Chevannes and Etienne Joseph Marie Leonce Bizouard de Montille, the grandfather of Hubert de Montille, on April 1863. Montille, as Etienne was known at the time, divided his time between the domaines in Volnay and Creancey and the Societe des Agriculteurs de France, of which he was one of the founders.
The domaine sat on a veritable treasure, which at the time was not recognized for its inherent value: Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses, in total 12 hectares of magnificent terroir, planted with Pinot Noir in the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune. Though today these parcels make wine lovers swoon, they were sold off as and when the family's financial situation dictated. It was more common to sell vines than fields at the time, as fields were more profitable.
Little by little, the ancestors chipped away at the domaine. And when Hubert decided to stop this erosion, the family domaine had been reduced to its smallest size of barely 3 hectares, composed of various parcels of Volnay 1er Cru. Hubert became a lawyer like his father, but he lived a double life between Volnay and Dijon, between the vines and the court.
This pioneering and passionate man has began his first harvest in 1947, breaking the custom of selling wine to negociants. He was one of the first to believe in the future of the bottle. This new in-house strategy played an important role in the future of the domaine. The domaine also started to make wines that focus on authenticity and persoanlity, improving with time than to just please drinkers early. At the time 90% of the region's wines were sold to negociants, who made wines that were stylistically standard, this little domaine began to make wines that was radically different, focusing on the terroir.
Etienne and Alix de Montille, Hubert's children, learned about viticulture from an early age. But Hubert never would have passed them his baton without them first learning a 'real profession' and so they followed the family footsteps by orienting towards a legal career. But inevitably both return the vine.
In 1983, after a year in USA, Etienne started working at the domaine. He learned from his father and through his oenology studies until 1990, when he took over the vinifications. In 1995, he became co-manager and began to move the domaine towards organic farming. He also started to adapt the vinifications to his own way of thinking.
In 2001, he returned full-time to Burgundian soil to devote himself to the domaine and the Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet. He took full control and asserted his style and philosophy: biodynamic farming, whole cluster fermentation to add aromatics and silkier wines with less austerity. All the while, he remained true to the vision he learned by his father's side: authenticity, purity, elegance and balance.
In 2003, Alix also returned to her childhood love, Volnay. She and Etienne created 'Deux Montille Soeur-Frere', a negociant house devoted primarily to white wines. Since 2006 she has taken over responsibility for the domaine's whites, notably the precious Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Cailleret and Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. With Etienne watching over the reds and Alix the whites, Etienne began to enlarge the domaine, and in 2005 brought back into the fold some Clos Vougeot and a parcel just next to La Tache in Vosne-Romanee. By 2011 the domaine counted 20 hectares of vines of which 75% were Premiers or Grands Crus.
The appellation Les Rugiens is special. It is composed of two parts: Les Rugiens-Hauts and Les Rugiens-Bas. The bottom and the best part, Les Rugiens-Bas produces exceptional quality, composed of 5.83 hectares, taken its name from its red-colored clay that contains iron oxide. Domaine de Montille is the largest owner of the appellation with two parcels that together have a surface area of 1.02 hectares.
Tasted the 2012 vintage, I found the wine has a good finesse and elegance surprising for a Pommard, which I would expect to be more powerful. It is well-balanced with nice red and dark fruit aromas, supplemented with earth and spicy notes. The palate has good velvety tannin with fairly long finish.
Ingredients (for 4):
