Ex Nihilo

Ex Nihilo Estate wines: buy at the best price

Born from nothing, as its Latin name suggests, the Maison Ex Nihilo is one of the most promising addresses of the new Burgundian generation. Founded by Morgane and Alban Desazars, two passionate individuals who came from Champagne and the Loire, this discreet estate established in the heart of the Côte d'Or practices artisanal, plot-by-plot winemaking with a deliberately minimal interventionist approach. Volumes are tiny — often just a few hundred bottles per cuvée — but the care is absolute. Finely crafted Chardonnays and elegant Pinot Noirs express the great limestone terroirs of the Côte de Beaune and the Hautes-Côtes. 

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Ex Nihilo Hautes Côtes de Nuits Le Mont 2023 blanc
2 in stock
108275
White
75cl
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Burgundy | Hautes Côtes de Nuits

Ex Nihilo Hautes Côtes de Nuits Le Mont 2023 blanc

€66.00 inc-VAT per bottle
€55.00 ex-VAT

History of Maison Ex Nihilo

The story of Ex Nihilo begins far from the Côte d'Or. Morgane and Alban Desazars grew up with their feet in the vines and their noses in the barrels, in Champagne and in the Loire, two schools that shaped their relationship with wine and with the craft. Armed with their wine-growing and winemaking training and experience accumulated in great estates, they decided to follow their dream beyond their roots and to settle in Burgundy, where no one expected them. Their ambition was clear from the outset: to craft the chiselled and mineral wines they cherish, in a register of great precision.

The 2023 vintage marks their first, with the winemaking of two single-plot white cuvées, Les Monsnières and Le Mont, under the Côte de Beaune and Hautes-Côtes de Nuits appellations. The couple chose a singular approach: Alban tends the vines himself throughout the year, alongside partner winegrowers selected for their environmental commitment, which allows him to control the raw material from the soil to the cellar. They also became the owners of a former wine-growing estate in Auxey-Duresses, endowed with very old Cistercian vaulted cellars, some carved directly into the limestone rock, as well as an exceptional winery brought back into activity. Added to this is the acquisition of their first plot in outright ownership, in Puligny-Montrachet. The range was subsequently extended upward with a Meursault premier cru and a Santenay premier cru rouge, both produced in confidential quantities.

Terroirs and Vineyards of Maison Ex Nihilo

Ex Nihilo works on a mosaic of small plots spread across the Côte de Beaune, the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and the great white villages of the Côte d'Or. The guiding thread is always the same: calcareous soils, well-chosen exposures and vines that are often old, sometimes octogenarian. The estate cultivates a rare intimacy with its soils, built row by row, which allows each cuvée to bear the exact mark of its birthplace rather than a uniform cellar signature.

The plots range from the high-altitude hillsides of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, above Nuits-Saint-Georges, where the freshness and thermal amplitude preserve a vibrant acidity, to the prestigious slopes of Meursault and Santenay. The limestone fractures, fine clays and scree there shape wines that are tense, saline and crystalline. Work in the vineyard is conducted in harmony with nature, drawing on lunar cycles and practices respectful of the living world, without synthetic products. Partner winegrowers are chosen for their commitment to organic or reasoned farming, an indispensable condition for obtaining healthy grapes and the faithful expression of the terroir. The 2024 vintage, marked by record rainfall, coulure and downy mildew, significantly reduced volumes, but the rigour of the sorting allowed fine, balanced and energetic wines to be produced.

Winemaking at Maison Ex Nihilo

The harvest is entirely manual, gathered in small crates of 13 to 15 kilos in order to preserve the integrity of the berries and avoid any crushing. It is at the pressing stage that the house's Champagne heritage reveals itself. Where many Burgundian winemakers launch a pre-set programme and ramp up pressure quickly, Alban Desazars begins at just 0.25 bar — the pressure of a finger on a piano key — and allows the juice to flow slowly for two to three hours before gradually rising to 1.25 bar. He tastes the juices at each stage, as in Champagne, and stops at the precise moment when purity and balance reach their peak. The choice of harvest date, pressing parameters, settling times and maceration durations all constitute quality levers that are embraced with full intention.

Fermentations start spontaneously with indigenous yeasts, accompanied rather than forced. The wines circulate by gravity alone, without brutal pumping. Ageing is divided between temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks and oak barrels, in a proportion adapted to each cuvée, so that each one finds its own expression with a minimum of intervention. For the reds, destemming is total and maceration is long but delicate. This patient and instinctive approach yields wines of concentration, minerality and tension, alive and expressive.

The Cuvées of Maison Ex Nihilo

Bourgogne Côte de Beaune Blanc « Les Monsnières »: one of the two founding cuvées of the house, born with the 2023 vintage. This single-plot Chardonnay comes from a limestone terroir on the Côte de Beaune, vinified with the house's characteristic precision. The nose combines gunflint, white flowers and citrus in a finely smoky register. The palate is chiselled and taut, driven by an assertive minerality and a vibrant acidity that lengthens the finish. A thoroughbred Burgundy white that favours directness over opulence, and that ideally accompanies a blanquette de veau, trout fillets with cream or fresh goat's cheeses.

Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc « Le Mont »: the second founding cuvée, produced in minuscule quantities from a plot perched above Nuits-Saint-Georges. The altitude here brings a remarkable freshness and a slow ripening that preserves aromatic brilliance. The wine unfolds citrus, acacia blossom and a clear stony imprint, with an elegant texture and a persistent salinity. Labelled Bourgogne Blanc on its first vintages, it now carries the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits appellation. A luminous and easy-drinking white, superb as an aperitif as well as with delicate fish dishes.

Meursault 1er Cru Blanc « Porusot Dessus »: the pinnacle of the white range, drawn from a great Meursault terroir worked with extreme precision. The nose evokes fresh hazelnut, fine butter, ripe citrus, brioche and a very present stony minerality. The palate is broad and powerful, yet the acidity provides a tension that precludes any heaviness. The finish, vibrant and persistent, retains a saline imprint that points to fine ageing potential. Produced in only 294 bottles in the 2024 vintage, this is an exceptional white, already seductive but destined for a fine evolution in the cellar.

Santenay 1er Cru Rouge « Le Petit Clos Rousseau »: the house's sole red, and a true rarity with 553 bottles produced in the 2024 vintage. It comes from old vines of approximately 80 years planted on a steep slope with a south-east exposure, marked by limestone fractures that favour concentration and natural freshness. The grapes are entirely destemmed, fermentations are spontaneous and maceration is long but delicate. Ageing combines first-use barrels and stainless-steel tanks in order to preserve aromatic purity and the precision of the fruit. The colour is deep and brilliant ruby, the nose intense with ripe cherry, raspberry and blackcurrant, lifted by floral notes of violet. The palate is silky and refined, with fine, integrated tannins evolving toward black pepper, liquorice and a hint of vanilla, before a long, harmonious and fresh finish. To be served between 15 and 16 degrees with a roasted duck breast, a veal chop with mushrooms or a pigeon, with a keeping potential of 8 to 15 years.

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