#9 Meeting : Thibaut Montgillard

For those who love good wine, some trips are like pilgrimages. This is the case of the Route des Grands Crus de Bourgogne, which links Dijon to Santenay and crosses estates whose mere mention puts our taste buds in a state of excitement.

But the House of Benjamin Kuentz likes to think outside the box.

At a time when we are creating a whisky aged in a barrel of great Burgundy wine, it is towards a cooperage that we are interested and not just any cooperage. The Montgillard cooperage, located just a stone’s throw from Cîteaux Abbey, is well worth a visit, driven by a philosophy and a love of the craft full of emotion. To listen to Thibaut Montgillard and Nicolas Boillot, his workshop manager, the meeting of a wine and a barrel is first and foremost a love story that will forge and develop each person’s temperament, which is only too happy to express itself. And as such, it is listening that is designated as the cardinal value of the cooperage. Listen to what nature expresses in memory and in life through a selection of the best oaks in France, from forests managed by the ONF in Burgundy, the Vosges and the Centre of France. Listen to what the wine already expresses from its terroir and which the barrel will enrich and refine. Above all, we listen to what the winemaker wants to tell us through his cuvée in order to determine the desired aromatic profile and the best wood to accompany this birth of a singular taste. A human and delicate approach at all stages, from the selection of the staves to the heating and drying.

And then it’s time to make a choice: which grain of wood to use, because that’s what makes all the difference, and how long to age the wine? These are questions that the Montgillard cooperage does not leave the winegrower alone. Sometimes it takes a few detours to understand what kind of wood some wines and men are made of!