Louis Max, which originated in 1859, is both a negociant and an estate. The estate has 20 hectares of holdings in Mercurey and Rully.
I’ve had decent wines from Max in the past, but never anything exciting enough to cause me to visit. But this year, when making my appointment to taste at David Duband’s estate, he mentioned that he is now also responsible for the wines at Max and asked if I wanted to taste them. I had a small opening in my schedule and so stopped by to taste the wines.
The estate has been organic since 2006.
On the whole, I found the wines good, but not exceptional. As my notes indicate, some of the wines may still have been suffering from bottle shock; also, I expect that as David gets more experience with the vineyards, we may see individual modifications that will lead to still better wines.
All wines below are estate wines unless otherwise indicated.
We start with the whites, which have a maximum of 20% new oak on them; there is no bâtonnage (stirring of the lees). (Continue reading here.)