The 2013 Meursault Casse-Têtes, which was taken from tank, has a pleasant reductive note on the nose that I hope will remain once in bottle. The palate is well balanced with citrus lemon and orange zest, building gently to a precise, tense finish. This might be worth seeking out.

An intense burst of rich fruit, spices and crushed rocks hits the palate as the 2010 Meursault Les Casse-Tetes shows off its exuberant personality. There is lovely energy and vibrancy in the glass that serves to balance some of the wine’s more overt tendencies. This is a fairly ripe, bold style of Meursault, but it works. Anticipated maturity: 2012+. For my general comments on recent developments on Deux Montille, readers may want to take a look at my introduction in the Domaine de Montille section. Various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808

The 2009 Meursault Les Casse-Tetes offers lovely generosity in its warm, radiant fruit. This is a relatively open style meant for near-term drinking that nevertheless retains excellent minerality to balance the juicy, expressive fruit. Anticipated maturity: 2013+. Alix de Montille is going for a taut style with the whites she makes at the Domaine and at Deux Montille, the negociant operation she runs with her brother Etienne. The 2009s are quite strong across the board. Unfortuantely I was only able to taste a partial lineup of the 2010s (for both the Domaine and Deux Montille) as several of the wines were still in malo. Based on what I tasted in barrel, 2010 is a much more exciting vintage here, and one that gave de Montille the perfect conditions to make wines in her style. The 2010s show enormous promise. I can hardly wait to taste them in finished form. The wines from Domaine de Montille are reviewed separately. Various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808

From barrel, the Deux Montille 2006 Meursault Casse-Tete features ripe peach, lemon oil, and heliotrope. Creamy and imposingly rich on the palate let persistently refreshing, it finishes with subtly bitter peach kernel, chalk, lemon cream, and toasted nuts. Count on this for at least 4-5 years of bottle interest, although it will be hard to resist drinking sooner. The small, five year old negociant business of siblings Alix and Etienne de Montille is designed to remain small and to focus almost exclusively on white wines. Alix de Montille (who is also responsible for the whites of Domaine de Montille) has been avowedly influenced by her husband, Jean-Marc Roulot, and clarity, purity, and refinement are the watchwords in this cellar. “I like lively wines,” she explains, “just as I like lively people.” De Montille has had notable success in sourcing and exercising the necessary quality control over exemplary fruit from some of Burgundy’s less prestigious appellation, although experience has shown that such contracts can be as difficult to maintain as those that govern more celebrated sites. De Montille performed no batonnage, and generally shortened her 2006’s stays in barrel (overwhelmingly demi-muids, 10-20% new). A number of the wines were in tank, waiting bottling, when I tasted them. (A powerful Pouilly-Fuisse from two excellent sites in Vergisson, as well as a rich, promising St.-Aubin Sur Gamay could not be fairly assessed while on their finings; a Chevalier-Montrachet of enormous potential was not re-tasted after malo-lactic; and there were several wines I did not taste at all.) 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