In 1970, the Moreau family, which had been up until then a négociant, began to purchase
land under direction of Jean-Jacques Moreau. The plots he purchased were located in the village of Viviers and in many cases on land that had previously not been planted to vines. The vineyards were at a very high altitude, but the land was nonetheless on Kimmeridgian soil with a favorable southwest exposure. Eventually, the 65 hectares became Domaine de Biéville. The Moreau family purchased its eponymous domaine in 1994, and, along with it, Petit Chablis, Chablis and, most importantly, a pair of premier crus, Vaulignot and Fourneaux. In that same year, the Moreau holdings were again augmented with an additional 5 hectares of Chablis Villages. These vines became Domaine de Cèdre Doré (Domaine of the Golden Cedar) in 1995 in recognition of a gift that was given to Louis Moreau to mark the occasion of his wedding to Anne Baylin. Beginning with the 2002 vintage, the Moreau family parcels which had been controlled previously by J. Moreau et Fils have returned to Domaine Louis Moreau, including prominent parcels of premier cru Vaillons and grands crus Les Clos (including partial ownership of the famous Clos des Hospices), Valmur, Vaudésir, and Blanchot. (While the parcel of Blanchot is too small to be bottled, in Les Clos the holdings are substantial, and so there is both Les Clos and a separate Les Clos, “Clos des Hospices”.) Louis Moreau who holds a diploma in Oenology and Viticulture from the United States and worked for a time for Louis Roederer in California today runs the trio of domaines. Assisting him is régisseur Eric Steinger.
Following mechanical harvesting, the wine rests on its lees for two days. Most lees are then removed although some are retained for richness. There is a Kiesselghur filtration and full malolactic fermentation, after which the wine is chilled to remove tartaric crystals. The wine is fined with fish glue and then aged. The aging process includes the use of François Frères oak barrels (Vosges, Allier and Tronçais) for the premier cru Vaillons and each of the grand crus.
Contact
10 Grande Rue 89800 BEINE
03 86 42 87 20
fax : 03 86 42 45 59
info@louismoreau.com
www.louismoreau.com
Video from lematin.ch (in English): http://video.lematin.ch/video/iLyROoafMRia.html Early September, Louis Moreau prepares the 2009′ harvest and makes some comments about the quality of the grapes on his estate vineyard. Domaine Louis Moreau was born from the passion of a family settled in Chablis in 1814. As soon as the late 19th century, the love of this ...