Maxime Cottenceau comes from a long line of growers in Buxy, the southern Côte Chalonnaise town whose wines were once favored by the monks of Cluny. For generations, though, his family sold every grape to the local cooperative. After three years working alongside Vincent Dureuil at Domaine Dureuil-Janthial in Rully, Maxime founded his own domaine in January 2018, while still in his early twenties. His parents pulled some of their best parcels out of the cooperative so he could make wine under the family name for the first time. The early years tested him: frost took half the 2019 crop and 90 percent of 2021. Even so, Wine Advocate's William Kelley was soon urging importers to “beat a path to his door.” Maxime now farms about six hectares organically, timing his work in the vineyard and cellar to the lunar calendar. Every white is made the same way, from aligoté to premier cru. Each ferments with indigenous yeasts in barrel (30 percent new) and then spends a year on its full lees with monthly stirring. He deliberately leaves about three liters of air in each barrel, because he believes the more you shield a white wine from oxygen, the more fragile it becomes. The wines then rest in stainless steel before a light filtration, bottling by gravity, and just a touch of sulfur.

Maxime calls Vigne du Soleil the sunniest vineyard in Montagny. This premier cru sits at the foot of the slope below Montcuchot, facing south and southeast, on very dark clay studded with small white limestone stones. An underground water source protects the vines, which average about 35 years old, from drought stress through hot summers. Only about 70 cases were made.

The 2023 opens with lemon curd, cultured butter, and wet stone. The palate is plush and long, finishing with a pinch of white pepper. Enjoy through 2035.