Domaine de Montille

The Montille family's history goes back to the mid-17th century in Créancey, in the Auxois region, with the Lords of Commeau; the lordship of de Montille dates to the 14th century, and Lazare Bizouard (1669-1735), a lawyer in the Parliament and Secretary of the King, was the first to carry the combined surname Bizouard de Montille. The Chauvelot de Chevannes family, separately, settled in Volnay and built the estate house there; the cellar, now the estate offices, dates from around 1776. The estate took the Montille name after Léonce de Montille, a former army officer who had served in the Italian and Crimean campaigns, married Éléonore Chauvelot de Chevannes on April 9, 1863; her family's vineyard estate then became Domaine de Montille. Léonce was a founding member of the Société des Agriculteurs de France and chaired the Agriculture and Viticulture Committee of Beaune in 1890. Under Napoleon the family owned, through acquisition or alliance, more than 5 hectares of Chambolle-Musigny crus, including Musigny and Bonnes-Mares. In the 19th century the estate peaked at roughly 30 hectares across the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. Phylloxera then devastated the vineyards, many landowners sold their vines, and the family had to let go of some of its own; by the end of the Second World War about 2.5 hectares remained, mainly in Volnay, along with the family house. Hubert de Montille (1930-2014) became head of the remaining estate in 1947 at 17, after his father's death. He began studying law, learned viticulture and winemaking from his uncle, and spent the following decades rebuilding the domaine while practicing as a lawyer based in Dijon, a career he chose in 1953.

• Family roots in the mid-17th century in Créancey, Auxois; the lordship of de Montille dates to the 14th century
• Estate renamed Domaine de Montille after Léonce de Montille's 1863 marriage to Éléonore Chauvelot de Chevannes of Volnay
• 19th-century peak of roughly 30 hectares across Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits before phylloxera; reduced to about 2.5 hectares by the end of WWII
• Hubert de Montille (1930-2014) became head of the estate in 1947 at 17, after his father's death; combined the domaine with a legal career chosen in 1953

Hubert de Montille devoted his life to rebuilding the estate plot by plot while practicing law, commuting between his Dijon practice and Volnay. As a lawyer he defended major Burgundy houses, Faiveley among them, and in the Affaire Grégory, the 1980s case concerning the death of four-year-old Grégory Villemin and one of the most publicized French court cases of the decade, he defended Bernard Laroche. As a winemaker, Hubert made terroir-driven wines from his own vines at a time when more than 90 percent of the region's wine was in the hands of négociant houses, and he took the then-unusual step of bottling his own wines from the 1960s rather than selling to négociants. He was a vocal advocate for terroir and age-worthy wines, and appeared as a major figure in Jonathan Nossiter's 2004 documentary Mondovino. His wife Christiane (d. 2008) managed much of the estate's administrative affairs behind the scenes. Hubert de Montille died in 2014; his children, Étienne and Alix, took over running the domaine.

• Combined a Dijon-based legal career with the estate; defended major Burgundy houses including Faiveley, and Bernard Laroche in the Affaire Grégory
• Took the then-unusual step of bottling his own wines from the 1960s rather than selling to négociants; a vocal advocate for Burgundy terroir
• Appeared as a major figure in Jonathan Nossiter's 2004 documentary Mondovino
• Hubert de Montille (1930-2014); his children Étienne and Alix took over the domaine

Étienne de Montille began working at the domaine in 1983 at 20, after a year in the United States working as a bartender at Chez Panisse, the California restaurant. He trained at university and learned the practical side of winemaking from his father, taking over the winemaking by 1990. In 1995, after twelve years of apprenticeship, Étienne became co-manager of the estate and head of winemaking, and decided to convert the estate to organic farming. In 2002 he left a career in Paris corporate law to devote himself fully to the domaine, which by then covered 9 hectares; Hubert retired, and Étienne took over while also overseeing a separate property, Château de Puligny-Montrachet. In 2003-2005, in partnership with the Seysses family of Domaine Dujac, he bought former Thomas Moillard vineyards, returning the family to the Côte de Nuits with holdings including Vosne-Romanee Aux Malconsorts and Clos Vougeot; the estate reached 16 hectares, farmed biodynamically across the entire vineyard. In 2012 Étienne bought Château de Puligny-Montrachet, which he had already managed for eleven years, adding about 15 hectares of white-wine vineyards including Les Perrières and Les Porusots in Meursault, Les Folatières in Puligny-Montrachet, En Rémilly in Saint-Aubin, and Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru; the purchase brought the domaine back to roughly its 19th-century scale. In 2022 Étienne moved his family back into the ancestral house in Volnay and converted the former winery into the estate's offices; that year his son Louis began an apprenticeship at the domaine, the tenth generation.

• Joined the domaine in 1983 at 20; took over winemaking by 1990; appointed co-manager in 1995
• Left a Paris corporate law career in 2002 as Hubert retired; took over the roughly 9-hectare domaine and Château de Puligny-Montrachet management
• 2003-2005: acquired former Thomas Moillard Côte de Nuits vineyards with Domaine Dujac (Seysses family), including Vosne-Romanee Aux Malconsorts and Clos Vougeot; estate biodynamic across the entire vineyard by this period
• 2012: acquired Château de Puligny-Montrachet, which he had managed for 11 years, adding about 15 hectares of white-wine vineyards
• 2022: returned to live in the ancestral Volnay house; son Louis began an apprenticeship, the tenth generation

The domaine's organic conversion began in 1985 with the complete abandonment of chemical fertilizers, followed in 1995 by the elimination of synthetic fungicides and insecticides. Étienne then led the estate's conversion to biodynamic agriculture in the 2000s. He has presided over GEST (Groupement d'Etude et de Suivi des Terroirs), an association of winemakers with more than a hundred members who study soil dynamics together. The estate does not deep plough, using hydraulic inter-row scratching instead; plots worked by horse are hilled up in winter and trimmed by hand. In spring, workers cultivate the strip of land near the vines (the cavaillon) to delay bud break and reduce frost risk, and in June they defoliate the north side of the vines to limit rot. Several biodynamic preparations, including preparation 500, are made on the estate itself; the horns used are buried each autumn in the domaine's Clos du Château de Puligny-Montrachet plot and unearthed the following spring with an informal group of fellow winemakers, then dynamized in rainwater and sprayed on the vines. The estate today covers about 37 hectares, predominantly Premier Cru and Grand Cru, spanning the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits.

• Organic conversion: chemical fertilizers eliminated 1985; synthetic fungicides and insecticides eliminated 1995; biodynamic conversion followed in the 2000s
• Étienne has presided over GEST, a terroir-study association of winemakers now with over 100 members
• Vineyard work: no deep ploughing (hydraulic inter-row scratching instead); horse-worked plots hand-trimmed; cavaillon work in spring against frost; north-side defoliation in June against rot
• Biodynamic preparation 500 made on-site, with horns buried each autumn in the Clos du Château de Puligny-Montrachet plot
• About 37 hectares today, predominantly Premier Cru and Grand Cru, across Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits

The domaine traditionally focused on red wine from its Volnay base, but its whites now play an equally significant role in its reputation. For its reds the estate says it prefers balance and elegance to power and extraction. It counts itself among a few Burgundy domaines that regularly vinify with a significant proportion of whole clusters, set each year for each cuvee at one third to 100 percent. New oak on the reds runs 5 to 45 percent depending on the appellation. The harvest is entirely hand-picked, and chief winemaker Brian Sieve and his team monitor each wine from sorting table through bottling, intervening minimally and working with an eye to the lunar calendar. For the whites, presses are adjusted to the vintage and the sanitary condition of the fruit; after a slight settling, the juice is transferred to 228-liter and 600-liter barrels for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. New oak on the whites runs 5 to 35 percent, averaging about 15 percent, sourced from Allier with a long, light toast; lees stirring is minimal to none. The wines rack after about a year in barrel into a second, four- to six-month phase in stainless steel to preserve freshness, before a gentle fining and filtration ahead of bottling.

• Reds aim for balance and elegance over power; whole-cluster proportion set annually per cuvee, from one third to 100 percent; new oak 5-45 percent
• Harvest entirely by hand; chief winemaker Brian Sieve (cellar master since January 2010) and his team follow each wine from sorting through bottling
• Whites: fermented in 228L and 600L barrels; new oak 5-35 percent (about 15 percent average), Allier oak with a long, light toast; minimal lees stirring
• Whites age about a year in barrel, then 4-6 months in stainless steel before gentle fining and filtration

More than 20 people work daily across the domaine's vineyards, cellars and office, a team drawn from Italy, England, the United States and France. Alongside Brian Sieve (born in Indianapolis, cellar master since January 2010) the winemaking team includes Jacques Montagnon, who joined Château de Puligny-Montrachet in 1987, soon led its vinification, and became a cornerstone of the team when Étienne acquired the property in 2012, and vineyard manager Nicholas Valentinuzzi, who studied viticulture and oenology in his native Friuli, Italy, before joining the estate. Virginie Ducreux has been Director of Finance and Human Resources since 2017; Nicolas Fontaine, who grew up on the Côte de Nuits and set up a wine import business in Sweden, joined the trade team in 2021; Manon Dumait handles French domestic trade. The current range includes Domaine de Montille wines from Volnay (Premier Cru bottlings such as Les Taillepieds, Les Champans, Les Mitans and La Carelle Sous Chapelle), Pommard (Les Rugiens, Les Pezerolles, Les Cras), Beaune (Les Sizies, Les Perrières, Les Grèves, Les Aigrots), Nuits-Saint-Georges (Aux Thorey, Aux Saints-Juliens), Vosne-Romanee (Aux Malconsorts, including a cuvee named Christiane), Corton (Clos du Roi Grand Cru, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru), Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, and, on the white side, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet (including Le Cailleret, Les Folatières, La Garenne), Chassagne-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin (En Rémilly) and Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru. The family also owns a négociant business, and a separate Maison de Montille range covers appellations including Saint-Romain, Rully, Montagny, Pouilly-Fuisse and Chablis. In 2017, Étienne and Brian Sieve took the family's work beyond Burgundy with Racines in California's Santa Rita Hills, and Étienne also planted vineyards in Hokkaido, Japan, under the name de Montille x Hokkaido.

• More than 20 staff; winemaking team includes Brian Sieve, Jacques Montagnon (with Château de Puligny-Montrachet since 1987) and vineyard manager Nicholas Valentinuzzi
• Domaine de Montille range spans Volnay, Pommard, Beaune, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Vosne-Romanee reds and Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin whites, plus Corton, Clos Vougeot, Corton-Charlemagne and Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Crus
• Maison de Montille is a separate range covering Saint-Romain, Rully, Montagny, Pouilly-Fuisse and Chablis
• 2017: Racines created in California's Santa Rita Hills and vineyards planted in Hokkaido, Japan (de Montille x Hokkaido)

Primary sources (the estate's own site, demontille.com): home, the domain (history and team), the viticulture, the vinification, the wines, and contact pages. Secondary sources: The Drinks Business (November 3, 2014 obituary of Hubert de Montille) and Wine Spectator (November 3, 2014, "Burgundy Winemaker Hubert de Montille Dies at 84"). Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the estate's own site and a secondary source disagree, the estate's own site governs; disagreements are logged in conflicts.json.