Moreau-Naudet Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre 2024
We have 1 in stock (Inventory is live and accurate)
Summer Shipping Advisory: Orders may be temporarily held during periods of extreme heat to ensure wine arrives in optimal condition.
View current shipping weather map →
The Land
If Chablis ever promoted a premier cru to grand cru, it would be this one. Montée de Tonnerre sits on the right bank of the Serein, on the same continuous slope as the grand crus, separated from Blanchot only by a narrow fold in the hill. Geology and exposure match the grand cru band: southwest-facing Kimmeridgian marl, thin stony topsoil, fossil oyster shell throughout. The name has been recorded since 1537, after the old road climbing toward Tonnerre. Moreau-Naudet's holding is a single hectare inside Chapelot, the sub-climat at the far end of the slope, where the soil turns sandier over rock and limestone content runs high. The vines are roughly 50 years old. This is consistently the most mineral-driven wine the domaine makes.
The Wine
Chardonnay from Chapelot, hand-harvested and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Around 30 percent goes into old barrels, steamed rather than charred so no toast or vanilla enters the wine, the rest into stainless steel. Both then rest on fine lees close to two years. The result is a Chablis with real breadth that still finishes like struck flint: lemon confit, chamomile, gunflint and crushed shell, a saline mid-weight, a long dry finish. 2024 brought frost April 18 to 25, hail on May 1, a flowering that took more than three weeks in the rain, and mildew heavy enough that organic estates sprayed 20 to 25 times and still lost most of the crop. Regional yields fell 60 to 90 percent and many domaines came in under 10 hl/ha. Alcohols are low and acidities racy, which suits this site better than a hot year does.
The People
Stéphane Moreau did not learn Chablis only from Chablis. He looked hard at Vincent Dauvissat, a few streets away, and at Didier Dagueneau in Pouilly-Fumé, growers who treated white wine as something to be built rather than preserved. That is where the long lees aging, the low sulfur handling and the refusal of new oak come from. He took the domaine over from his father Roger in 1993 and ran it until his death in September 2016, at 47, days before harvest. Virginie Moreau stepped in immediately, working with the assistant winemaker Stéphane had trained, and the cellar has not changed direction since. Montée de Tonnerre is the bottle where that continuity is easiest to taste.
Food Pairing
This is the Chablis for shellfish with something more than lemon on it. Oysters grilled with garlic butter and breadcrumbs give the flinty side of the wine something to push against. Sole meunière, browned in butter with parsley and capers, meets the citrus and the salt at once. Comté aged 24 months brings out the nutty, lees-driven weight. Clams steamed in white wine and shallots are almost the same wine twice over. Serve around 50 degrees, not ice cold, or you flatten the texture that took two years on lees to build.
We ship wine to most states with a $100 minimum order for shipping. We don't ship spirits nor beer.
Weather shipping advisory: Orders placed during times of extreme heat or extreme cold will be held for no charge until more favorable weather returns.
Chablis, a village and region in northern Burgundy, is all about Chardonnay, making arguably the best unoaked versions in the world. The wines here are defined by a crisp acidity and a strong mineral backbone. The area's unique Kimmeridgian limestone soil, packed with marine fossils, gives the wines a distinctive flinty edge. One slope overlooking the village holds the seven Grand Cru vineyards, while Premier Cru sites are scattered along both sides of the Sereine River, which cuts the region in half. Chablis is the ultimate destination for highly mineral white wines.
Burgundy - Chablis
Chardonnay, one of the world's most versatile and beloved white grape varieties, showcases a remarkable spectrum of styles, from the lean, mineral-driven expressions of Chablis in France to the rich, buttery, and oak-aged versions from California's Napa Valley. Its adaptability extends to cooler climates such as Burgundy, where it achieves elegance and complexity, and to regions like Australia's Yarra Valley, known for producing vibrant and fruit-forward renditions. This grape's ability to reflect its terroir, coupled with winemaking techniques, results in a wide array of profiles, including unoaked, crisp varieties with apple and citrus notes, to full-bodied wines with tropical fruit flavors and creamy textures.
