The Deux Montille 2007 Meursault Poruzots – from old vines adjacent to those farmed by Alix de Montille's husband Jean-Marc Roulot – smells and tastes piquantly of lightly-toasted walnut and hazelnut, accompanied by ripe, succulent peach and bright lemon that steer this chalk- and stone-paved, bitterly nutty, and subtly cyanic Meursault clear of austerity. Though super-concentrated and palpably dense, this wine displays some textural give, and finishes with a striking sense of lift as well as persistent refreshment. It certainly seems a candidate for a half dozen or more years of bottle age, and I would be inclined to leave it alone until at least 2011.
In the course of its six years, this negociant business of siblings has mourned the loss of a few excellent contracts, but continues to be an expanding source of impeccably rendered, consistently nuanced (and almost exclusively white) Burgundies. Alix de Montille puts special emphasis on ferreting out excellent sites in the less fashionable villages of the Cote d'Or, as well as in the Cote Chalonnaise. The resulting wines are expensive relative to their appellations but not to their quality. (For more about Alix de Montille's approach – avowedly influenced by that of her husband, Jean-Marc Roulot – readers are urged to consult my report in issue 180.)
Various importers, including Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040; also, a Thomas Calder Selection, Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29