Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits `La Croix` 2019 Single Bottle
Country: France Region: Burgundy
Varietal: Pinot Noir and Gamay Vintage: 2019
Category: Red Wine Style: Dry
Producer: Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret
"Vincent Mongeard and his wife Anne, are the 8th generation custodians of Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret, established when Vincent's grandparents pooled their vineyard resources in the 1920s. The domaine is located in Vosne-Romanée in the heart of the Côtes de Nuits.
The Domaine has vineyards in 28 appellations totaling over 30 hectares, ranging from Villages to Grand Cru. Vincent has a passion for Pinot Noir and predominantly makes red wines. 'Reasoned viticulture' (sustainable) is practiced with a focus on soil health. Manure and composts are used to improve soil health. A lot of thought goes into selecting the perfect fine grain oak for maturation. Vincent personally picks his own oak from Nièvre and the Tronçais forest in Allier. The oak is cured at the domaine for 18-24 months and a local cooper assembles the barrels for them.
The 'La Croix' Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits is hand harvested from a vineyard of 0.69 hectares. The average age of the vines is 45 years and the wines are aged in 30% to 40% new barrels. It is an excellent introduction to Mongeard-Mugneret. If you want to get serious, try the Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, it comes from a tiny parcel of 0.62 hectares. The vines range from 40-50 years old and the wine is matured in 100% new oak barrels."
Product Features: Sustainable; Vegan; Vegetarian
Winemaker: Vincent Mongeard
Vineyards:
When it comes to his vineyards Vincent takes an intelligent and pragmatic view: "I adopt many of the practices of organics and biodynamics," he says. "But all of our vineyards are different and require different approaches, so the use of one philosophy would not give the quality we're looking for." Because of this, and because of the distance between his vineyards, the harvest lasts for over a month. He destems all his wines (except for the Richebourg) and discards about 8-10% of the grapes on his sorting table. The 50 year old vines are Guyot pruned. In the spring severe debudding takes place to regulate the crop. A green harvest is carried out in the summer to increase the chances of high quality and maturity. Yields are around 40 hectolitres per hectare.
Vinification:
The grapes were de-stemmed and underwent a cold maceration for four to five days. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at 30ºC for 12-15 days. A gentle pressing of the grapes was made to extract a good level of tannins. The free run juice and the press juice were unified in stainless steel tanks before being run off by gravity into French oak barrels, a portion of which was new. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was then aged for a period of 18-22 months before being bottled without filtering.
Tasting Notes:
La Croix' has notable purity which is expressed in its freshness and intense flavours of red gooseberries, raspberries and blackcurrants. Youthful, its acidity is well balanced with subtle, velvety tannins, finishing with a touch of vanilla.
Food Suggestion:
Very good with grilled red meats, veal stew, a rabbit casserole with mustard or a fairly mild cheese.
