Monthelie 1er Cru Les Vignes-Rondes AOC 2024

A Pinot Noir of slender build, drawing its impact from clarity rather than power. The fruit stays cool and precisely delineated, the tannin fine, the freshness carrying the wine upright through to the finish. 13.0% vol., dry.

Monthelie lies on the steep slopes of the Côte de Beaune, right next to Meursault, where Domaine Rémi Jobard is based. Les Vignes-Rondes is one of the commune's Premier Cru sites. The vine rows are worked by hand, cover-cropped and unfertilized; cordon pruning keeps yields naturally low.

Pure Pinot Noir. In the domaine's vaulted cellar, the wines mature in 600-litre barrels from the Austrian cooper Stockinger, made from French, Austrian and Slavonian oak. The large volume means less wood contact per litre and a slower exchange of oxygen; only around a fifth of the barrels are renewed each year. "The oak should support the wine, not dominate it," says Rémi Jobard. Around fifteen months in wood is followed by a rest in tank. The wine is bottled unfiltered — stability comes from two winters of ageing.

Silky texture, behind which juicy sour cherry and cool forest berries unfold, underscored by herbal notes and mineral tension. The tannin is smoothly integrated, the finish staying cool and clear.

Pairs well with pink-roasted saddle of venison, with pheasant and gently braised guinea fowl, as well as delicate wild mushroom dishes, beef fillet or aged Comté.

The domaine converted early: synthetic fertilizers and pesticides disappeared in 1994, herbicides in 1998. "Everything I do in the vineyard and in the cellar serves to let this terroir express itself transparently and without a veil," says Jobard.