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Gismondi at www.gismondionwine.com
(Vancouver, Canada) Tasted October 10th 2005 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon Cuvée Guy Moreau 2003 : 92/100 Cuvée Guy Moreau take sits name from a 70-year-old block planted by Guy Moreau in 1934. It is 60/40 stainless steel/ barrel fermented blend with only 10 percent new wood used — the rest is a mix of one, two and three year old barrels. Green apple skin, honey, toasty lees, light vanilla, cashew, grapefruit, peach aromas with a wet slate note. Rich, ripe, round, broad palate with good acidity and dry. Citrus, anise, baked pear, mineral, nutty lees flavours with spicy, lemon rind finish. Fine richness and very ripe for Chablis. Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon 2003 : 90/100 Honey, toasty lees, nutty, citrus, light floral aromas with a mineral, baked apple note. Ripe, round, broad palate with nutty lees, green apple skin, honey, baked pear, citrus flavours with a creamy, citrus finish. Quite lively and ripe. Drink now and over the next year or so. Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 2003 : 93/100 Just over half of Valmur is aged in stainless vats. Forty-five per cent is done in barrels (90% in 1, 2 and 3 years old barrels, 10% in new and 1 year old barrels) for a period of six months. Toasty, garlic lees, honey, nutty, melon skin, baked apple aromas with a hint of orange flower. Ripe, round, dry, elegant palate with juicy green apple, mineral, spicy lees, honey, cashew flavours and a mineral, leesy, lemon finish. Fine effort if a bit alcoholic. Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2003 : 94/100 More classic nose with lime rind, slate, honey, nutty, spicy lees and floral aromas with a hint of peach skin. Dry, round, fresh palate with good acidity. Fine mineral, chalky, lemon, citrus butter, honey and nutty lees flavours. A touch warm but fine ripeness and intensity. Softer than 2002 but fine balance and flavours.   By cutting off a sizable percentage of the buds during late spring of '04, Christian and Fabien Moreau managed to hold ultimate yields to a reasonable level in the context of this plethoric year, but still made the maximum allowable yields.According to Christian Moreau, there was a good bit of oidium, especially on the left bank of the Serein. They left a good part of the affected grapes in the vineyard and did a further selection in the winery.They then kept more of the lees than usual, but practiced batonnage only for the first month.Like the other top producers of Chablis, the Moreaus have made a science out of finding the optimum blend of barrel and tank for each of their cuvees. (FrederickWildman&Sons, New York, NY) 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis : 86-88 (tasted the day prior to bottling) Grapefruit, pineapple and a metallic hint on the nose. Juicy, fresh and spicy, with notes of minerals, mint and pepper. Should make a good village wine. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Vaillons : 87-89 (from tank) Brisk aromas of pepper and spice, with some flinty reduction. Then denser and sweeter than the village wine, withflavors of stone fruits and pepper. Not the last word in precision but offers good cut and intensity and very good length. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Vaillons Guy Moreau : 88-89 (from tank) Purer, more minerally aromas of grapefruit and mint. Juicy, dense and supple, with a ripe grapefruitflavor and very good length. More minerally and more delineated than the regular Vaillons. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Vaudesir : 88-89 (tasted from barrel) Steely, minerally nose hints at grapefruit, pepper and coriander. Sweet, silky and aromatic, with lovely citrusflavors. Steely but not austere. A wine of moderate intensity, finishing with decent length and a slight harshness. From six-year-old vines cropped to 45 hectoliters per hectare, according to Moreau. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Blanchot : 89-92 (done entirely in used barrels) Very pale color. Bracing aromas of lime, spearmint, snap pea, pepper and powdered stone. A step up in intensity from the Vaudesir, with a suppler, more layeredtexture and lovely inner-mouth energy. Flavors of lime, stone, minerals and flowers. Finishes aromatic, layered and long. The 2004s may be more minerally than the 2002s, notes Christian. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Valmur : 90-92 Reduced nose hints at flint and nuts. Dense but quite dry, conveying an impression of weight and brooding power. Dusts the palate with peach and spice flavors. Rather backward but possesses lovely fruit and does not come across as hard. Finishes long and suave. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Clos : 90-93 Perfumed, pure aromas of white grapefruit, mint and minerals. The sweetest yet of these 2004s, with very intense flavors of lime and talc. This wine was moved from tank back into oak so that it could breathe a bit, notes Fabien. Still backward but not austere. Perhaps most expressive today on the juicy, very long finish. 2004 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Clos des Hospices : 90-93 Pure but reticent aromas of lemon candy and spices; a bit more exotic and perfumed than the "regular" Clos. Thicker on entry, then very ripe and a bit exotic in the middle palate, with a rare sweetness of fruit for the vintage. Richer than the Clos but not as complex or obviously minerally today. In fact, this is quite different in style. Today I find the Clos more typical of this great grand cru. 2003 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis : 85 Ripe aromas of peach and butter. Exotic, round and fat; a very ripe chardonnay with a spicy character and a bit of alcoholic warmth. 2003 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Vaillons : 88 Full-blown aromas of honey, apricot and white truffle. Sweet and dense but not heavy; offers much more energy than the village wine. With solid underlying minerality, this conveys a light touch. Finishes with very good length. 2003 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Vaillons Guy Moreau : 88 (these vines are 73 years old, vs. 50 for the regular Vaillons) Spicy, scented nose melds lemon, peach and apricot. Supple, sweet and fruit-driven, withflavors of peaches and cream. Less minerally than the regular Vaillons. Fatter, warmer and perhaps a tad less elegant. 2003 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Valmur : 89(+?) Reduced aromas of apricot, smoke, flint and pepper. Sweet, rich and opulent; this is really fat with material. A round and full wine that still needs a few years of aging. Again, not especially minerally, and a bit warm on the end. 2003 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Clos : 92 Good pale yellow. Vintage-defying aromas of pineapple, grapefruit, pear, flint, spun sugar and crushed stone. Dense, concentrated and minerally, with very ripe but classic flavors of pineapple, peach, apple and crushed stone.Broad but sappy, offering a lovely lightness of touch and noteworthy inner-mouth energy. Impressively fresh, precise and stylish for the vintage, and very long on the aftertaste. 2003 Domaine Christian Moreau Pere et Fils Chablis Clos des Hospices : 90 Roasted stone fruits, smoke and honey; shows more evidence of surmaturite than the regular Clos. Larger-scaled and superripe, but less expressive and detailed today. A bit less precise on the aftertaste. Figaro Magazine - April 9, 2005  Click on the Picture to read the article (french) Nation's Restaurant News - February 14, 2005
New York Daily News - January 21, 2005 'Chablis brings a lot to the table' "Much of the Chablis district lies atop an ancient seabed that's rich in limestone from decomposing seashells. This gives a distinct mineral note to the wines' aromas and flavors. When producers make wine without oak barrels - which would contribute a toasty, smoky character - this minerality sings through. Chablis wines are somewhat full-bodied, but they are lean from their crisp acidity, and their flavors (besides the mineral note, they suggest green apple, sometimes lemon) are only medium-intense. Served lightly chilled, they go well with raw or cooked shellfish, delicate white fish and other light fare. The current vintage is 2002, a wonderful year that produced sleek, classic wines particularly suited to the unoaked style; they can age nicely for another five years or more. The 2003 vintage, which will debut later this year, is much different; because it was a warmer year, the wines are fuller and richer than is typical. A fascinating exercise would be to taste the two vintages side by side; if you buy a few 2002s now, you can do that. One of my favorite Chablis producers is Christian Moreau, whose basic Chablis sells for $20. (Producers also make pricier premier cru and grand cru Chablis.)" Mary Ewing Mulligan |
