Domaine Montanet-Thoden

Winemaker Valentin Montanet is the son of Jean and Catherine Montanet of Domaine de la Cadette. Founded in 2000 by Catherine Montanet as a sister winery to Domaine de la Cadette, the certified organic vineyard land sits deep in the Morvan, the great mountain range that runs west by northwest of the famous Côte d’Or. Valentin came on as winemaker in 2010. The land here is quite exceptional: the creation of the granite massif of the Morvan has uplifted a marl and limestone strata, revealing fossilized marine deposits. Though Vézelay is a geographic appendage of Chablis, the soils are not exactly the same. Instead of the Kimmerdigian soils, the clays here range from blue and gray to red, sometimes with no clay at all but just shallow limestone. While the climate is slightly cooler than in Chablis, the vines enjoy great sun exposure, lending a balance between generous fruit and deep mineral structure. This leads to wines of distinctive terroir.