Aline's passion, vision, and the sheer quality of her wines leave a profound impression. It's astonishing that such exquisite wines are still so reasonably priced. Aline's dedication to her craft and her terroir shines through in every bottle. Now is the moment to embrace these wines before Aline's star rises and her creations become sought after on a larger scale.

Le Cloux is one of the highest and coolest of the Montagny premiers crus, an east-facing site with rockier soil than most of the appellation. Aline only added it to the domaine in 2023, so this is the wine's second vintage, drawn from two plots, one of 45-year-old vines and one of 17. Fermentation is with indigenous yeasts, and the wine aged entirely in barrel with about 18 percent new oak. Like everything she made in 2024, it came from a season of mildew pressure and a crop a third smaller than the year before, harvested healthy in mid-September and held in cask until March 2026 rather than her customary November.

Aline describes Le Cloux as the firmer and racier of her two premiers crus, and 2024 bears that out with an unexpected generosity on top. Orange and grapefruit peel, a gentle touch of flinty reduction, and a glossy kiss of oak that steps aside almost immediately for firm acidity and a chalky, limestone-driven structure. The finish is tight, restrained, and long. Jancis Robinson's note from January called it precise and crystalline. Drink with a solid decant now or through 2037.