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Montmains (par allocation)
A clean crystal clear golden colour and a lively nose perfumed by concentrated notes of hawthorn and acacia. Expressive and powerful, it is structured by an appealing elegant acidity. Hints of gunflint accompany lemon and white flower flavours. The finish is intense and fresh.
Detailed description
Chablis Montmains Wine
Montmains is a Premier Cru climat in Chablis, stretching along an exposed hillside to the southwest of the town of Chablis itself. It is one of Chablis' best known Premier Cru vineyards, producing fresh, elegant wines with good minerality from the Chardonnay grape variety.
This vineyard is in fact made up of several, in the Chablis convention: Butteaux and Forets are Premier Cru climats in their own right but are also permitted to use the Montmains Premier Cru name. This is also the case for the Vaillons Premier Cru vineyard to the north of Montmains: the two are separated by a thin strip of land sanctioned only for use in basic Chablis AOC wines. Together, these two Premier Cru vineyards account for a large proportion of Chablis Premier Cru wine.
A Montmains wine label
The terroir in Montmains is suited to a lighter, leaner expression of Chardonnay. Angled slightly east toward the morning sun, the slopes of the vineyard have enough sunshine to ripen grapes, while still retaining the fresh acidity that is so important to Chablis wines. This is in stark contrast to the southwestern orientation of the Grand Cru vineyards on the other side of the river, where more intense sunlight gives a riper, more powerful style of wine.
Montmains' Kimmeridgian soils set it apart from other vineyards, as they are particularly stony and shallow. These rapidly draining soils with high levels of limestone have low fertility, which concentrates grapes as vigor and vield are reduced. Kimmeridgian soils are often credited with imparting the intense minerality to Chablis wines, and are usually one of the key factors in delimiting a vineyard as Premier or Grand Cru.
While many of the region's producers create a Montmains Premier Cru wine from grapes blended from several of the area's vineyards, there is a push toward single-vineyard wines that are labeled under the Butteaux or Forets labels. This is unusual for Chablis: most sub-climats rarely, if ever, appear on labels.
Data sheet
Allocation | Contact us to find out about allocation possibilities | |
A.O.C controlled designation of origin | Chablis Premier Cru Appellation. | |
Grape variety | 100% chardonnay. | |
Terroir | Kimmeridgien, with differences according to the sectors: very soft marls or shellfish much more present. Mostly South / South-West exposure with very steep terrain. | |
Vineyard | Located on the left bank of the Serein, in the center of the coast, southwest of Chablis, the Premier Cru Montmains enjoy a particularly favorable exposure. | |
Lieu-dit | Montmains | |
Vines | Chardonnays planted in the 90s | |
Exposure | South, South-East exposure, 10 to 20% slope | |
Vine growing | H.V.E. High Environmental Value | |
Harvest | Harvest at optimum maturity, destemming, sorting, pneumatic pressing. | |
Winemaking | The winemaking is carried out in stainless steel vats. The natural fermentations are controlled at low temperatures. | |
Breeding | Aging is carried out for 12 to 18 months on fine lees in stainless steel tanks before filtration and bottling. | |
Aging | 10 years and more | |
Service | Serve chilled but not cold (12 ° C). | |
Aspect | A clean crystal clear golden colour | |
Nose | A lively nose perfumed by concentrated notes of hawthorn and acacia. | |
Mouth | Expressive and powerful, it is structured by an appealing elegant acidity. Hints of gunflint accompany lemon and white flower flavours. The finish is intense and fresh. | |
Accords | Serve with seafood salad, mussels, scallops sea bass, bream or chicken. | |
Tim Atkin Master of Wine | 93/100 |
Technical sheet / documentation
My wines speak of their land gracefully across the fruit of each grape variety.