2003 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru

.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.

Production for this domain was down 35% to 40% in 2003 due largely to frost, which was worst in Valmur and Les Clos but also caused crop losses in the upper, unprotected portions of Vaillon.Despite the low crop level from the start, the Moreaus carried out their normal crop thinning in June.The domain's vineyards, which with one exception are over 45 years of age, then stood up to the heat relatively well, according to Christian Moreau. The Moreaus started picking on August 27, bringing in fruit with potential alcohol in the high 12.5% to 13.9% range.According to Fabien Moreau, who is now in charge of winemaking, the debourbage was longer in 2003 as he wanted to cool down the musts. (In 2002 there was almost no cold settling, as the juice following the gentle pressing was extremely clean and included barely 2% lees.)The Moreaus did very little batonnage in either vintage, as both years brought material that was rich from the start. In addition to adding tartaric acidity to the musts, Moreau pere et fils blocked part of the malolactic fermentation in their Vaillon and Clos to preserve freshness; Christian Moreau has a long history of using this strategy in hot years.