Clos du Roi

An excellent, medium deep colour heralds an elegantly fragrant nose, with a great deal behind. This is sensitively handled – it’s by no means a blockbuster and is very sensual in the mouth with a long finish. David’s deft touch with Corton continues.

Tasting with David Croix at Camille Giroud is always a pleasure, especially so this year as the range of 2014s is delicious. David feels that the wines are all about drinkability and balance rather than exceptional power. His theory is that the great start to the growing season kept the vines healthy through the cool, damp summer.

From biodynamic grapes, this has a superbly rich, dark colour with an amazing intensity of succulent fruit. Already good at the front, this delivers an extraordinary wealth of fruit right at the back, with a dark fruit note, even some black. This is very long. Drink 2025-2035.
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer

David Croix would be happy to see 2015 more often. He began picking his whites early in September and the reds from the 7th through to the last Grand Cru on the 18th. Some areas showed a bit of drought but otherwise it was a textbook growing season. It was still necessary to judge ripeness levels correctly though, opines David. The evidence of this range is that he has done so. Very promising white wines, too.

Bursting with perfumed raspberry fruit and violets on the nose, this wine is middleweight on the palate before reaching a rump of tannins, and a finale of sweet ripe fruit that returns to strike at the end.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Domaine de Montille picked between the 18th and 26th September in 2010. The red wines, made by American Brian Sieve (one of two winemakers in this catalogue born in Indianapolis!) under the surveillance of Etienne de Montille, now show a consistency of style and quality that perhaps was not entirely there a few years ago. The whites are the responsibility of Etiennes sister Alix and maintain the class of recent times. Together they have produced a fine result in 2010.

Showing a brambly, briary nose, this Corton from Domaine de Montille has a huge wealth of fruit on the palate, tremendous length and a seductively persistent aftertaste.

Another classic Camille Giroud cuvee, this is a brisk, fresh red-purple with a suave, silky yet powerful nose. Full of fruit on the palate, in a wide register, medium-bodied, notably satiny, a Corton of great finesse and breeding. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

David Croix picked relatively late for his reds, from October 3rd to 16th, but he wisely took the whites in first from 29th September to 2nd October. Overall he has been able to source more wine than for the pitifully small 2012 crop. These are beautiful wines, a marvellous expression of Pinot Noir, suited for medium term keeping.

Whole bunches are down to 66 percent here (versus 100 percent for the rich, structured 2015); new oak was maintained at 50 percent. The wine has an exceptional perfume; energetic, pure and dark. There is also very good structure on the palate – not too dense as this vineyard can sometimes be. The vintage's precision is especially evident in this wine. Drink 2022-2027.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Domaine de Montille was developed by Hubert de Montille (1930-2014), a prominent Dijon lawyer, who inherited 2.5 hectares of vineyards in Volnay in 1947. Over the years he acquired further parcels in Volnay, Pommard and Puligny-Montrachet Les Caillerets. Today the business is run by his son Étienne who has extended the domaine by purchases of vineyards in Beaune, Corton and the Côte de Nuits, including some marvellous Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically and the red wines are increasingly vinified with whole bunches. Following the splendid successes here in 2015, this vintage provides a contrast in style, but with reasons to buy that are just as compelling. Volumes are down in certain appellations and winemaking has been tempered to release more of the vintage’s purity of fruit and definition of terroir. Use of whole bunches for the reds continues, but not by rote, with proportions being adjusted according to each cuvée’s requirements.

This comes from the five hectares immediately in front of the château, a park until it was planted in
1986. Brian did not use any SO2 until after the malolactic fermentation, and the wine is only aged in minimum 500-litre barrels. It’s classically Puligny in style, with flinty reduction and a pure, floral, citrus profile. Drink 2021-2026.