Chronicle of the Week: “An island of Pinot Noir in an ocean of Chardonnay”

Located in Chassagne-Montrachet, right in the “Voillenots Dessus” parcel, Domaine Bernard Moreau has been one of the appellation’s most dazzling addresses for 5 generations.
Considered the finest red terroir in the appellation, the Premier Cru “La Cardeuse” forms a long, narrow strip, encircled by two dry-stone murgers, below the “Clos Pitois”.
This historic Monopole belonging to the Moreau family is traditionally devoted to Pinot Noir, although Alexandre and Benoît’s grandfather, Marcel, had the idea of planting a few rows of Chardonnay in the very chalky central part of the climat.
Today, with 216 hectares of white and only 92 of red, it’s hard to imagine that before phylloxera struck in 1878, the Chassagne-Montrachet vineyards produced only red wines, with the exception of a few acres of white in the famous Montrachet.

“Wine is made to be drunk, so if you want to drink them, they have to be digestible.” Alexandre Moreau