Domaine Louis Moreau Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru 2016
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Chablis, with its steely character and fresh citrus flavor, pairs well with white fish and shellfish and its naturally high acidity can counterbalance cream-based sauces. Unoaked Chablis lends itself well to vegetables, starches, Comté, or fresh goat cheese.
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Here’s a naked view of Les Clos, from seven acres of vines planted in 1958 and 1968; the fruit never sees oak and is vinified in stainless steel with ambient yeasts, then aged on the fine lees for 20 months. The wine sustains freshness in scents of peach and yellow apple, buttery green olives and notes of white lilies. It’s stony and elegant, with a mysterious depth and concentration that hints at hazelnuts and smoke. This will be compelling to follow as it evolves over the next five to ten years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Moreau's 2016 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos saw fully 20 months on the lees in stainless steel, and it has turned out well, unwinding in the glass with aromas of apples, oranges, confit citrus and fresh pastry, complemented by a delicate top note of orange blossom. On the palate, it's full-bodied, satiny and muscular, with a rich and layered core, ripe acids and a long finish.
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Wine Spectator
This white starts out smoky, with maturing flavors of baked apple, beeswax and butterscotch, backed by vibrant acidity. Picks up creaminess as this winds down on the long finish. Drink now through 2023. 100 cases imported.
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Domaine Louis Moreau is a 50-hectare estate based in the commune of Beines in the heart of the Chablis appellation. Louis and his wife Anne founded the domaine in 1994 with half the family vineyards once leased to the négocaint firm J. Moreau & Fils. Louis Moreau owns parcels in four of Chablis’ seven grand cru climats including the grand cru Clos des Hospices dans Les Clos, three premier crus, and several plots in the Chablis and Petit Chablis appellations. Louis seeks clarity of site in each of his wines and all his decisions in the vineyard and cellar are meant to bring out the personality of each terroir. The domaine is made up of an impressive number of premier cru and grand cru vineyards with additional holdings in Chablis and Petit Chablis totaling 50 hectares. Petit Chablis comes from the sandy-Portlandian limestone soils of the plateau above the valley. Village-level Chablis is from classic Kimmeridgian clay and is from parcels mainly in Beines and near the town of Chablis. The three premier crus are Vaulignot, Vaillons, and Fourneaux, each of them in a side valley of the Serein river. The grand crus include Blanchot, Vaudésir, Valmur, and Les Clos. The Clos des Hospices dans Les Clos, located towards the bottom of Les Clos, is bottled separately from Les Clos in only the best vintages. Vineyards are farmed lutte raisonée with some of the premier cru and grand cru vineyards in conversion to organic. Massal selection is the preferred method of replanting. Petit Chablis and Chablis are machine-harvested. “We’re using the third generation of machine harvester,” says Louis, “it’s very gentle and works well when we need to be quick.” The premier and grand crus are hand-harvested, and whole bunches go directly into the press. Fermentation is spontaneous except for Petit Chablis, and malolactic fermentation is controlled depending on the vineyard and vintage. All wines are vinified and aged in stainless steel tanks except for grand cru Valmur which ages in up to 25% new 500-liter French oak. The wines receive a gentle filtration before bottling.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The source of the most racy, light and tactile, yet uniquely complex Chardonnay, Chablis, while considered part of Burgundy, actually reaches far past the most northern stretch of the Côte d’Or proper. Its vineyards cover hillsides surrounding the small village of Chablis about 100 miles north of Dijon, making it actually closer to Champagne than to Burgundy. Champagne and Chablis have a unique soil type in common called Kimmeridgian, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world except southern England. A 180 million year-old geologic formation of decomposed clay and limestone, containing tiny fossilized oyster shells, spans from the Dorset village of Kimmeridge in southern England all the way down through Champagne, and to the soils of Chablis. This soil type produces wines full of structure, austerity, minerality, salinity and finesse.
Chablis Grands Crus vineyards are all located at ideal elevations and exposition on the acclaimed Kimmeridgian soil, an ancient clay-limestone soil that lends intensity and finesse to its wines. The vineyards outside of Grands Crus are Premiers Crus, and outlying from those is Petit Chablis. Chablis Grand Cru, as well as most Premier Cru Chablis, can age for many years.