Winemaker Notes
Located on the west bank of the Yvonne and just to the south of Vaillons, Montmains has a southeastern exposure. Considered, along with Vaillons, to be one of the top premier crus west of the river, Montmains is forward in its youth, displaying more apple than lime flavors with a distinctive nutty nuance – Benoît says it is reminiscent of hazelnuts or almonds and speculates that this is due to the finer marl soils of this hillside. Domaine Droin owns 2.15 hectares in Montmains.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Clear pale colour. 40% has been vinified in wood, though there is no overt oak character evident. Benoît takes care to use a mix of different coopers and forests to avoid any one dominating. A wealth of fruit here instead, a slight stony reduction attributable to the thick layer of white marly soil. Excellent white fruit and flesh in the aftertaste. Barrel sample: 90-93
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up aromas of apple, citrus oil and white flowers, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains is medium to full-bodied, rich and layered, with a long, saline finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru has a fresh, malic nose, perhaps a little more old school compared to the Vaillons. The palate is fresh and slightly creamy on the entry, with touches of lemon verbena and orange pith. A dash of white pepper just perks up the understated finish.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The source of the most racy, light and tactile, yet uniquely complex Chardonnay, Chablis, while considered part of Burgundy, actually reaches far past the most northern stretch of the Côte d’Or proper. Its vineyards cover hillsides surrounding the small village of Chablis about 100 miles north of Dijon, making it actually closer to Champagne than to Burgundy. Champagne and Chablis have a unique soil type in common called Kimmeridgian, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world except southern England. A 180 million year-old geologic formation of decomposed clay and limestone, containing tiny fossilized oyster shells, spans from the Dorset village of Kimmeridge in southern England all the way down through Champagne, and to the soils of Chablis. This soil type produces wines full of structure, austerity, minerality, salinity and finesse.
Chablis Grands Crus vineyards are all located at ideal elevations and exposition on the acclaimed Kimmeridgian soil, an ancient clay-limestone soil that lends intensity and finesse to its wines. The vineyards outside of Grands Crus are Premiers Crus, and outlying from those is Petit Chablis. Chablis Grand Cru, as well as most Premier Cru Chablis, can age for many years.