Domaine Mongeard Mugneret Gevrey Chambertin 2019

The Mongeard family arrived in Vosne-Romanée in the 18th century, and records show a Mongeard working as vigneron for Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1786. In 1945, Jean Mongeard, whose mother was a Mugneret, found himself making wine at the age of 16. His father had died five years before, and there was no one left to do the job. The entire 1945 crop was purchased by Baron le Roy, Marquis d'Angerville and Henri Gouges. Gouges instructed the young Mongeard to personally bottle the wines, rather than sell in barrel, because of the exceptional quality of the family's wines.

Robert Parker describes the wines of the domaine: 'The style of winemaking seems to extract rich, supple, concentrated fruit from the grapes...The wines always seem to show well young, but also age nicely for 10-15 years.'

Since 1997, Vincent Mongeard, Jean's son, has been responsible for viticulture and vinification of the domaine's wines. He persuaded his father to return to the traditional method of bottling, without filtration, filtering only with certain vintages. Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret today covers a total area of more than 25 hectares, divided into 22 appellations. Their vineyards are 45-50 years old on average, and are grafted with superior Pinot Noir clones. All of the wines are 100% de-stemmed with the exception of Richebourg, for which they include 1/3 stems for more tannic structure. 

Mongeard Mugneret Gevrey Chambertin is grown in pebbly-alluvial deposits on argillo calcareous soils. 100 % Pinot Noir from vines averaging 40 years. Harvesting by hand exclusively. Hand-sorted in the winery. Destemmed fruit.  Aged in 30 to 40 % new oak barrels. Gevrey-Chambertin wines are deep in color with fine expressive aromas. When young they suggest blackcurrants and other red or black soft fruits, with hints of licorice heightened by their being partially matured in new oak casks. As the wines age they acquire further aromas suggestive of animal pelts, musk, spicy vanilla and Havana cigars. Rich, fine and full-bodied they have a robust, well-balanced structure. These wines, with their resounding name, are famed for their bouquet and finesse; they are also known to have been Napoleon's favorite wine, which he took with him on his campaigns.