2022 Domaine Cottenceau Montagny Les Dazes

Here is a Burgundy riddle: in Montagny, the village wine is rarer than the Premier Cru. So much of this appellation earned Premier Cru rank that plain "Montagny" almost never leaves France. Even The Wine Advocate jokes that readers could be forgiven for thinking the whole village is Premier Cru. Bottles like this one are the exception, and insiders hunt them.

The grower is Maxime Cottenceau, and Burgundy has noticed him. At the region's famous Grands Jours trade tasting, critics described an actual scrum forming around his table, and Vinous told anyone doubting Montagny's potential to taste his wines and think again. He trained beside the great Vincent Dureuil-Janthial, farms organically, and gives his wines the patient, ambitious treatment of a far grander address.

Les Dazes proves the point. The vines are more than forty-five years old, rooted in deep clay over limestone on an east-facing slope, and they include old "muscaté" selections of Chardonnay, heritage plant material that adds a whisper of floral perfume you will not find in modern clones. Wild yeasts, fourteen months in barrel, six more resting in tank. The glass bursts with lemon, green apple, white peach, and pineapple over a long, saline finish.

Old vines, a rising star, and a category rarer than its rank suggests. Don't wait.