Domaine Christian Moreau - Chablis Grand Cru - Les Clos 2020
Domaine Christian Moreau is located in Chablis . In 1814, Jean Joseph Moreau, cooper in Montbard, founded the company J. Moreau et Fils, wine merchant and broker in Chablis. Over the years, the family became the owner of prestigious plots, including the Clos des Hospices monopoly. In 1972, after living in Canada for 11 years, Christian Moreau returned to Chablis with his Canadian wife Christine and their children. He then learned from his father, Guy Moreau, the profession of winegrower and winemaker. In 1998, the Boisset group (from Nuits Saint Georges) bought the trading house J. Moreau et Fils. The family retains all of its vines and recovers the right to exploit, vinify and market the grapes from its plots from the 2002 vintage, the date on which Fabien Moreau takes over the management of the estate. From 2004, he definitively abandoned the use of herbicides and pesticides and gradually began to convert the estate to organic farming , with certification from the 2013 vintage. Today, he operates 12 hectares of Chablis Grand Cru (Les Clos , Clos des Hospices, Valmur, Vaudésir, Blanchot), Chablis Premier Cru Vaillon, Chablis and Petit Chablis.
The Grand Cru Les Clos faces south on very rocky Kimmeridgian soil with very dense white clays. The plot of 3 hectares in one piece is divided into three different plots which are vinified separately and then assembled. The age of the vines varies between 50 and 60 years. The harvest is manual and the grapes are sorted manually. They are pressed away from oxygen and then cold-settled before fermentation. Vinification is carried out in stainless steel vats (50%) and in barrels of 2, 3 and 4 wines (with less than 5% of new barrels) for 9 months . The wines are blended in vats for 6 months before bottling.
After an extremely mild and dry winter, flowering took place early and without spring frosts. The summer was also particularly hot with a high rainfall deficit. The harvest, which was perfectly healthy, began on August 28 and thanks to the rains that occurred in mid-August, water stress was limited. With lower degrees than 2018 and 2019 but higher acidities, the 2020 vintage returns with more tension than the previous ones, and is part of a line that is a little more typical of Chablis.
Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay
