I’m thinking of opening a 1998 DeMontille Pommard Rugiens this weekend or next. Wondering if anyone has any recent experience with this wine. I was planning on opening it about four hours early, pouring an ounce or so, and then pouring it back in just before serving (no decanting). Any suggestions, or does that sound about right?
Xavier,
This is a really fantastic wine. I think your plan will work fine.
Really love these wines.
From the Semi-Helpful Department: Had a '98 Montille Volnay 1er around a year ago and it drank like crazy. We were expecting something far more tannic and unforgiving but it was really beautiful. How that applies to the Pommard Rugiens I have no idea but at least there is a vote of confidence from someone who had a wine from them from the vintage relatively recently. I think it will do very well. Report back. Just bought a couple of this from the '06 vintage (which is a no good, lousy vintage-stay away at all costs).
Thanks for the feedback, guys! I’ll post a note.
Just open and drink it, letting it evolve in the glass. It is a great wine.
Please report back…on the wine and the method you use for aerating…and its evolution. '98s don’t seem like good candidates for popping and pouring to me, but…if you consume within an hour or so…who knows.
deMontille did really well in '98. I have some Taillepieds that I fell in love with at the winery in 2001. Give their rep, I was surprised by their '98s and '99s…but…hadn’t known that Etienne had taken over by that time and had changed the approach.
I haven’t had any of their “recent” wines, but remember one of the Burgundy videos that included a visit to the domaine, and some comments about the style changing when the son was to take over. Does anyone recall in what vintage that occurred? I’m too lazy to try to look it up! 
I think it’s a matter of definitions, Paul, but…I think it was in the early '90s.
Thanks to all for the feedback. My note follows, and I very much enjoyed this wine. I kept trying to figure out what that spice quality was – the aroma seemed so familiar, yet so elusive. I was pretty sure it was something I had smelled at Penzeys earlier in the day.
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1998 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (4/16/2011)
Opened and poured about an ounce into a glass. Cork was “wet” to about halfway up, and in good shape. The aroma was very open (with spicy red fruit), so I opted to pour the small amount of wine back into the bottle immediately. Plugged it and then an hour later used the vacuvin (call it a hunch). Got into it a little more than four hours after opening. Medium ruby, quite clear in the glass, though there was a small amount of sediment in the bottle. The nose is loaded with spice and mature red fruit, with a nice meatiness in the background. Slight tobacco with the red fruit, prompting Tim to jokingly refer to it as a Swisher Sweet. I kept trying to put my finger on the spice quality, and it was bringing me back to Penzeys, where we had stopped earlier in the day (maybe Chinese Five Spice?). The palate is mature, lean (but by no means thin), with the meaty quality coming through again, and the tannins resolved. The wine hung onto that elusive spiciness throughout the evening (I saved some in a glass and went back to it). Lovely burgundy. I think I’ll hold my remaining bottle for another couple of years, and simply pop and pour.
Posted from CellarTracker
A day late and a dollar short, but I had this last week off of the list at Ma Cuisine. It was quite good. The nose was really open with lots of spice and red fruit, the palate was silky and long. A great match to the food and a good bottle all the way around. There was just a slight hint of sous bois, which may be the tobacco/spice character you’re talking about Xavier. I always get it as cigar wrapper/soy/black tea, and I got it in the mid-palate and finish on this bottle. Good stuff.
Oooh, Jeff! You were (are?) in Burgundy – I’m envious. Only been to Ma Cuisine once, and loved it. Very homey and unpretentious. My kind of place. And love the wine list! The exceptional selection of vintage VEP Chartreuse is also a highlight.
I love it too. If you go bargain hunting on their list you can really find some good stuff. When I was there a few years ago they had a Pierre Bouree 1985 MSD for about 80E that was a steal. The 98 Rugiens was 120E, which isn’t too bad in my book. Sadly for everyone involved, I’m now home. I love just tooling around looking at vineyards there; got a great shot of DRC using the horse plow in La Tache -
