Product information

Domaine Bernard Moreau Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru ‘Morgeot’ 2018

Chardonnay from Côte du Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet, Burgundy

$390

$380ea in any 3+
$370ea in any 6+
Closure: Cork
On the spectrum from elegant to bold 'Morgeot' is always on the richer side of Alex's wines.

Description

The 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeots 1er Cru has a tight, backward, stony bouquet; Alex Moreau mentioned that he strove to pick at the right time to keep a sense of strictness. The palate is taut and fresh on the entry, with a fine bead of acidity. Elegant and refined, without the weight of the Champs Gain or La Maltroye on the midpalate, but conveying a sense of athleticism and poise on the saline finish and an exceptionally persistent aftertaste. Superb.

Neal Martin

Picking time to ensure freshness and precision is crucial.

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Check out all of the wines by Domaine Alex Moreau

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

… I do want to draw readers’ attention to two growers in Chassagne Montrachet who are “killing it” at the moment. Firstly, there is Alex Moreau at Domaine Bernard Moreau. This is a domaine whose wines have risen to a whole new level in recent years. Moreau’s portfolio is a veritable tour around Chassagne’s Premier Crus, showcasing the nuances between climats on the flatter lower sectors and more limestone-rich parcels located on higher contour…

Vinous – Neal Martin 2020

Full disclaimer – Domaine Bernard-Moreau et Fils has a sentimental place in my wine history. Alex came to work with us at Yering Station in 1999, I headed to Chassagne later that year working with him for the harvest. The hospitality of his family and the people of Chassagne was boundless! Since then the Domain’s portfolio has expanded to include a presence in Volnay and the addition of the two Grand Cru’s Bâtard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet. Under Alex’s leadership, the wines have continued to push to achieve excellence. It’s with a certain amount of pride that I offer his wines to the Wine Decoded community.

Vintage 1999 at Domain Bernard Moreau

The landscape of runs from just south of Chassagne (left) across to Puligny. The Grand Cru’s are in the 2nd and 3rd photo from the right. Yes, these pic’s were taken pre-digital! Read an almost finished retrospective of the vintage in the Wine Bites Mag.

About Domain Bernard-Moreau et Fils

The winery’s roots go back to 1809 when Auguste Moreau built a cellar across from the Champs Gain vineyard and farmed his few hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot along the golden slope. The 1930s saw an expansion of the family’s vineyards under the guidance of Marcel Moreau.

Roughly 80% of the Domaine’s current vineyard holdings were acquired by Marcel. At age 14, Bernard Moreau took over the vineyards and cellar in the early 1960’s. In 1977 the reputation of this great estate was fully established under the leadership of Bernard and Françoise Moreau and the winery was named Domaine Bernard Moreau. In addition to the changes in equipment, farming and winemaking, they also purchased additional land bringing the vineyard total to 14 hectares. To help with winemaking, viticulture and sales, sons Alex and Benoît joined the Domaine after having worked in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Alex and Benoit loosely split the responsibilities of the operation with Benoit more focused on the vineyards and Alex more focused on the cellar.

As with most all great Burgundian estates, the emphasis at Domaine Moreau is on terroir. Treat the vineyards right and they’ll reward you ith superior fruit. To maintain healthy, balanced soils the winery uses organic fertilizers and no pesticides. To ensure greater flavor intensity they farm the land for lower yields through pruning, debudding, green harvesting in August, leaf thinning for Pinot Noir (on the morning sun side), and the planting of cover crops in certain vineyards to encourage competition and soak up moisture.

The 1er Cru Chardonnays are barrel fermented and aged in French oak barrels (10%-30% new). The wine spends between 12 and 18 months in wood with a little lees stirring early on for added texture. Says Bernard, “The spirit of our winemaking is to not touch the wine too often. For Chardonnay, our aim is to produce very clean and precise wines which are not too austere. We like the minerality and purity.”

The red wines are aged in French oak barrels (10%-50% new) for 12 to 20 months depending on the vineyard and vintage. Bernard states, “For our Pinot Noirs we don’t do any racking, fining or filtration. We want to make the purest expression of the Pinot Noir from our vineyards.”

Levi Dalton spoke with Alex about his start at progression at Domaine Bernard Moreau.

The 2018 Vintage at Domaine Bernard-Moreau

Notes from Burghound:

On the vintage in general

Mother Nature and the magical terroirs of Burgundy sometime cooperate in the most mysterious ways to produce genuinely remarkable results. 2018 would be one of those sometimes because no one, or at least no one that I spoke to, expected the whites to be anywhere near as good as they are. As you will see in the various producer comments, many feared that 2018 would produce exceptionally rich if ponderous and alcoholic wines similar to those of most 2003s or many 2009s. While it is true that some 2018s are in fact unduly ripe, heavy and lacking in vibrancy, or even dilute, most are fresh, vibrant, delicious and reflective of their individual terroirs. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that 2018 is one of the most surprising white Burgundy vintages in quite some time.


Alexandre Moreau said that the 2018 “growing season was relatively straightforward to manage because even though the spring was very wet, the summer was dry and hot so there wasn’t much in the way of disease pressure. As we approached the harvest though maturities really spiked so it was critical to choose the picking dates with care. Also, despite the fact that we started on the 30th of August, which historically is super-early, I was still afraid that the fruit would be too ripe. Happily, as it turns out, that wasn’t the case but I confess to being very worried about it. While we could see that there would be very good yields, the volumes still surprised us as there was a lot of juice in the berries. This was particularly true in our old vines where good yields are between 35 and 38 hi/ha but we obtained 50 hi/ha and we’ve never seen that before. Overall, our yields in white were between 50 and 55 hi/ha though much less in pinot. We used around 25% whole clusters for the vinifications and had no problems with the fermentations finishing. In white however the alcoholics took a long time to finish, which isn’t a problem other than you have to watch things carefully. As to the wines, perhaps the most surprising thing about them is how well they transmit their respective terroirs. Very ripe years normally minimize that but the 2018s are really quite transparent.”


Nature is a tough taskmaster. Alex shares a depth of insight rarely explored. Just how do the best winemakers deal with tough vintages? What goes through their brains? How far ahead do they need to think?

You’ll hear Alex talk of the unknown, of thinking 3 years ahead in the vineyard, and, of the choices needed when your vineyard produces just two barrels instead of 12. The footage is ordinary, the words authentic.

93-95 Points

The 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeots 1er Cru has a tight, backward, stony bouquet; Alex Moreau mentioned that he strove to pick at the right time to keep a sense of strictness. The palate is taut and fresh on the entry, with a fine bead of acidity. Elegant and refined, without the weight of the Champs Gain or La Maltroye on the midpalate, but conveying a sense of athleticism and poise on the saline finish and an exceptionally persistent aftertaste. Superb.

Neal Martin

Where in the world does the magic happen?

3 Rue de Chagny, 21190 Chassagne-Montrachet, France

Chassagne-Montrachet
Côte du Beaune
Burgundy