Winemaker Notes
The most aromatically vibrant and lifted of the Beaune 1er Cru, this "Greves" is all about energy. With flavors of blood orange and fine-grained tannins, this De Montille favorite definitey punches above its weight class.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Domaine de Montille Beaune 1er Cru Les Grèves is long and elegant. TASTING NOTES: This wine is energetic and alive. Enjoy its beautiful aromas and flavors of wild strawberries and exotic spices with oven-roast chicken, wild mushrooms, and risotto. (Tasted: October 28, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
Medium-bodied, elegant and silky, this makes a charming first impression. But there are some healthy tannins supporting the quite generous finish. Drink from 2021.
Barrel Sample: 91-92 -
Jasper Morris
Mid purple with rather a savoury touch to the nose. Plenty of emphasis behind, some firm tannins, this is a concentrated masculine version of Grèves. Discreet, youthful, laid back. The fruit will cope with the tannins. Bottled with a DIAM 30 organic closure.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Beaune 1er Cru Grèves is showing well from bottle, unfurling in the glass with aromas of strawberries, cherries and plums mingled with sweet soil tones and licorice. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and charming, with supple tannins and a pretty core of fruit.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.