Deux Montille’s 2007 Saint-Romain – from two sites on the Auxey-Duresses side of the village, picked by the Domaine de Montille crew as the end of their harvest – smells of lemon, brine, and kirsch in a Chablis-like manner on the nose, and its palate impression is correspondingly bright and mineral in cast. Suggestions of citrus zest and the fuzz of the peach convey a delightful sense of invigoration in a juicy finish transparent to saline, chalky, and iodine-like mineral nuances. The de Montilles have been consistently demonstrating the high potential of this cool, generally under-rated village, and the present example should be worth following for at last 3-4 years. In the course of its six years, this negociant business of siblings has mourned the loss of a few excellent contracts, but continues to be an expanding source of impeccably rendered, consistently nuanced (and almost exclusively white) Burgundies. Alix de Montille puts special emphasis on ferreting out excellent sites in the less fashionable villages of the Cote d'Or, as well as in the Cote Chalonnaise. The resulting wines are expensive relative to their appellations but not to their quality. (For more about Alix de Montille's approach – avowedly influenced by that of her husband, Jean-Marc Roulot – readers are urged to consult my report in issue 180.)Various importers, including Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040; also, a Thomas Calder Selection, Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29