An overtly floral and sauvage-suffused nose reflects notes of plum and an assortment of wild dark berry aromas. There is almost painful intensity to the markedly stony and muscular flavors that manage the trick of being impressively rich but also very well-detailed, all wrapped in a gorgeously complex, persistent and impeccably well-balanced finale. This is finer than it usually is but don´t be fooled as it´s very much built-to-age.

Score: 92-95 Allen Meadow (AM), Bourghound (BH), April 2017

The 2015 Corton Grand Cru Clos du Roi is 100% whole cluster matured in 55% new oak. The bouquet is very fragrant with lifted black cherries, mulberry and wild heather scents - superb mineral expression here. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannin, crisp acidity, good body with red cherries and cranberry towards the structured, but surprisingly approachable finish. This is lovely.

As is customary, I tasted both the wines from Domaine de Montille and Château du Puligny-Montrachet at their tasting room in Meursault. I also tasted through their négoçiant range that readers should note will simply be titled "Maison de Montille" instead of "Deux Montille". It is always a pleasure to tasted with US-born winemaker Brian Sieve. "We had a warm growing season," he told me, "but we were helped by 50mm of rain on 10 August and 40mm on 18-20 August. In the end the disease pressure was a non-issue. There was a level phenolic ripeness that extended down to vines that are just 15 years old. In fact, it was only the oldest vines that did not flower so well. In terms of concentration of red fruit, they have a very good tannin profile and superb acidity. It will one of those vintages that is top notch. I like the profile better than the 2005 or 2009s and I just love the bright acidity. Without wishing to take anything away, there is a level of red fruit that was lost in those vintages. The whites were picked early on 26 August to hold on to the acid profile. I think they will speak more about the vignerons as much as anything else." We were joined by the ever-busy Etienne de Montille himself midway through the session. One interesting piece of news concerns the Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens. From 2015 onward, they will select fruit from only the best parcels and it will be entitled "Cuvée Hubert" in honor of his father Hubert de Montille, who passed away in 2014. Les Rugiens is synonymous with Hubert and Etienne told me that it was one of his favorite wines. It mirrors their introduction of the "Cuvée Christiane" from one parcel of Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts and named after Hubert´s wife, although one important difference is that unlike the Malconsorts there will not be two bottlings from the same vineyard. Fruit not selected from the Les Rugiens "Cuvée Hubert" will be blended into other crus or sold off, which I think is a wise move as it can make an already complicated region even more confusing for consumers.

Score: 92-94 Neal Martin (NM), The Wine Advocate (WA), December 2016

(12.8% alcohol, from fruit picked on September 2; vinified entirely with whole clusters and aged in 55% new oak): Good dark red. Very ripe, almost roasted aromas of currant liqueur, cherry and underbrush. In a powerful, thick, very dense style yet silky and nicely delineated as well, displaying compelling saline and mineral tones to its dark cherry and black raspberry fruit flavors. Really amazing texture here for a wine with modest alcohol. Quite salty and backward, even clenched, on the back end, but this grand cru has the power and energy to age for a long time. But its tooth-saturating tannins will require considerable patience.

Score: 92+ Stephen Tanzer (ST), Vinous Media (VM), January 2018

The 2015 Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru has a generous bouquet of crushed strawberry, cranberry, pressed flowers and light gravelly scents. The palate is well defined with a fine bead of acidity, tight and a little backward at the moment, yet it is very well focused and blessed with a masculine, tensile finish that lingers in the mouth. Excellent. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.

Score: 93 Neal Martin (NM), Vinous Media (VM), November 2018