Monthelie 1er Cru Sur la Velle AOC 2024

A cool, clearly defined white wine in which minerality and freshness take the lead while the fruit stays in the background. This wine needs air and time before it reveals its layers.

Monthelie lies in the Côte de Beaune in Burgundy, and Sur la Velle is one of the village's Premier Cru sites. Domaine Rémi Jobard is based in Meursault and farms around nine hectares. The vine rows are worked by hand, grassed over and unfertilised, and cordon pruning keeps yields low.

Pure Chardonnay. Grapes picked in the morning are pressed for at least six hours, those picked in the afternoon often overnight, for a full twelve hours, so that only the finest must, free of bitter compounds, reaches the cellar. Ageing lasts around 15 months in 600-litre casks from the cooper Stockinger, made of French, Austrian and Slavonian oak, with only around a fifth of the casks renewed each year. The wine then rests in tank before being bottled unfiltered. 13.5% vol.

On the nose, fresh lemon, white blossom and pale stone fruit, backed by a chalky minerality. The palate is dense and focused, carried by juicy acidity and a fine texture; the oak spice stays in the background, with no toasty notes.

With steamed turbot, scallops and delicate seafood, as well as with pan-seared veal sweetbreads or Bresse chicken in morel cream sauce. The wine also holds its own alongside a mature Comté.

The domaine has worked without artificial fertilisers or pesticides since 1994, and without herbicides since 1998. The unfiltered wine draws its stability from two winters of ageing rather than technical intervention, and the large cask volume keeps wood contact per litre low.