2020 Domaine de Montille 1er Cru Les Sizies Beaune

If you want to drink wines from the legendary Domaine de Montille without waiting 20 years or spending a fortune, this is the bottle to buy. While collectors fight over the estate's famous Volnays and Vosne-Romanées, the smart money goes to Les Sizies—a 1.62-hectare Premier Cru vineyard in Beaune that consistently punches above its weight class.

The "Les Sizies" vineyard sits at the foot of the slope on deep, clay-rich soils. In a typical vintage, this produces a wine of charm and early accessibility. However, the 2020 vintage was anything but typical. The hot, dry summer concentrated the fruit and thickened the skins, transforming this normally delicate wine into a powerhouse. Winemaker Brian Sieve (who has become a star in his own right) leaned into this intensity, using 30% whole-cluster fermentation to add a spicy, floral lift to the dense core of fruit.

The result is a wine that drinks with unexpected muscle and depth. It is fleshy, generous, and packed with dark cherry fruit, yet it retains the signature de Montille elegance. This is a rare opportunity to access one of the top biodynamic estates in the Côte de Beaune at a price that still makes sense for a Tuesday night dinner.