Maxime Cottenceau, like his mentor Vincent Dureuil, is another producer who surpassed what I thought would have been possible in the 2021 vintage, producing a portfolio of satiny, precise and intensely flavored white wines that number among his finest to date. And a couple of new cuvées demonstrate that Maxime's talents can elevate communal appellations just as surely as they can premiers crus. They come warmly recommended and are worth a special effort to seek out. Together with Bruno Lorenzon, Maxime Cottenceau is taking Montagny to new, hitherto unexplored heights, and we will all be the richer for it. As readers may remember, Cottenceau established his domaine in 2018, having worked at Domaine Dureuil-Janthial for three years before setting out on his own with family vines that were formerly contracted to the Montagny cooperative. He immediately put a stop to the use of herbicides, cultivating the soils instead, and began organic conversion in 2020. He's also trying out "tressage," whereby the vines' apical shoots are rolled over and woven together, in lieu of "rognage" (trimming), in a parcel next to the winery. Grapes are hand harvested in 25-kilogram cases, and whites see press cycles lasting a minimum of three and a half hours, with only three rotations (which helps to maintain a low pH). In 2018 and 2019, he settled the musts before barreling down, something he opted not to do at all in 2020—and time has proven this to be a wise decision. Reds are fermented in wooden tanks with lots of whole bunches, seeing a month's maceration with pigeage by foot and a heated post-fermentation maceration. Élevage is rather long, especially by the standards of Montagny, with the whites seeing a year or more in wood and at least six months on the lees in tank before bottling - October 2023 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate  (Jul 2024)

There was a bit of a scrum around Maxime Cottenceau at the Grands Jours tasting (March 2022), and you could understand why when you tasted his excellent wines. Having completed his studies and with a couple of vintages alongside Vincent Dureuil, Cottenceau established his own domaine in the village of Buxy, debuting with the 2018 vintage. Everything is picked by hand, gently pressed and carefully sorted, the wines spend 18-20 months in barrel with the final six-month in tank. If you doubt Montagny is able to produce genuine Premier Cru quality wines, you need to check these out - July 2022 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com  (Jul 2022)