When word got out that, after 22 vintages together, the Moreau brothers (originally of Domaine Bernard Moreau) were parting ways and that Benoît (the brother who did the work in the vines) was off to start his own small domaine with his share of the family’s vines, the fine-wine telegraph started buzzing. With well-established, biodynamic parcels in Grandes Ruchottes, Maltroie, Champ Gain and the Morgeot lieux-dits of La Cardeuse and Fairendes that Benoît had farmed for two decades—not to mention some exceptional village and Bourgogne-level vineyards—Chassagne had, in the blink of an eye, a stellar new domaine on its books. I think it was Thierry Pillot who first told us that we should pay Benoît a visit a few years ago (always a good sign when a great grower makes a recommendation!), and then our good mate, Tom Myers, also started raving about the wines Benoît had in his cellar. No surprises, then, that we arrived on the doorstep of the newly-formed Domaine Benoît Moreau.

Split across 25 parcels, the new domaine vineyards cover a tiny 4.2 hectares (so the volumes are small!), complemented by a little purchased fruit from Volnay. The farming is meticulous, with three full-time workers in winter and eight in the season—two people per hectare! All the vineyards are farmed biodynamically, with the work done either by hand, horse or small caterpillar tractors. In some parcels, Benoît’s experimenting with tressage—the laborious practice of braiding the vine canopy instead of hedging—and green cover crops are planted to build up organic matter in the soils and protect them during summer.

Like several of his peers today, Benoît crushes his Chardonnay before slowly pressing to a range of barrels (228-, 350- and 500-litre) from Stockinger, François Frères and Damy. Very little new oak is used, and fermentations are all spontaneous. Regardless of level, all the whites are bottled in March after two winters in the cellar (except for the Grandes Ruchottes, which ages for 18 months in cask and is released a year later). The closure is high-quality natural cork topped with wax.

The quality and style that Benoît Moreau is achieving will be no surprise to those who have followed his story. He’s working with the same great vineyards he has tended for 20 years (which he’d converted to organics and then biodynamics), and he’s clearly a talent in the cellar. In only his third year, and with the first release of any volume, the domaine has already attained two stars in the LRVF’s Green Guide, French wine’s equivalent of the Michelin Guide. Benoît’s wines have already become one of Burgundy’s must-have allocations. Fortunately, we were in the right place at the right time to secure a small allocation for Australia. As for why we are starting with 2022—only a little négociant wine was made in 2020, with Benoît beginning with his own vines in the minuscule 2021 vintage. So, 2022 is the first year there was enough wine for Australia to get some.

In tandem with his new domaine, Moreau has established a striking (small) project in Beaujolais with a close friend. The focus is on super-elegant Gamay wines sourced from 1.7 hectares of old-vine vineyards in Morgon and Chiroubles. The high-altitude vineyards, the lowest of which lies over 400 metres, are biodynamically farmed—a huge undertaking for old bush vines rooted in poor granitic soils—while the winemaking marries semi-Burgundian winemaking in a significant departure from the Beaujolais norm. It is a level of farming rarely seen in the Beaujolais, reflected in the quality and (necessarily) the pricing of the wines.