Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret

The Mongeard family's presence in Vosne-Romanée is documented as far back as 1620, making it one of Burgundy's longest-established winemaking dynasties. A Mongeard is recorded as having been employed at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti as early as 1786, underlining the family's deep connection to the Côte de Nuits' most celebrated terroirs. The modern estate took shape in 1920 when Eugène Mongeard married Edmée Mugneret, uniting two notable Burgundian families and creating the hyphenated name that would become official in 1945. That year, Jean Mongeard, just 16 years old, took over the domaine following his father's death and began estate-bottling the wines, a pivotal decision that set the course for everything that followed.

• First recorded Mongeard winemaker in Vosne-Romanée dates to 1620
• A Mongeard was employed at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1786
• The Mongeard-Mugneret name was formalized in 1945 when Jean Mongeard began estate-bottling at age 16
• The modern domaine is the product of the 1920 marriage between Eugène Mongeard and Edmée Mugneret

Vincent Mongeard joined his father Jean in 1975 and quickly made his mark by introducing green harvesting and sustainable viticulture practices to the domaine, approaches that were then deeply unconventional in Burgundy. His early adoption of green harvesting drew direct criticism from Henri Jayer in 1982, yet the practice has since become standard across the region. Vincent assumed full leadership in 1995 after Jean's retirement and has continued to refine the estate's philosophy, selecting oak personally for each individual cuvée and working with cooper Rousseau to age and select barrels on-site before they are made. In a significant recent development, Vincent's grandson Maxence Mongeard, born in 2006, joined the domaine and is now being trained by Vincent; the estate celebrated his arrival by releasing a dedicated bottling, Cuvée Maxence, a 2023 Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Les Vergelesses limited to 812 bottles.

• Vincent Mongeard joined the domaine in 1975 and assumed full leadership in 1995
• Vincent pioneered green harvesting in Burgundy in the early 1980s, famously criticized by Henri Jayer in 1982
• Grandson Maxence Mongeard (born 2006) recently joined and is being trained by Vincent
• Cuvée Maxence, a Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru, was released in 812 bottles to mark Maxence's arrival at the domaine

Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret farms 30 hectares across an exceptionally broad portfolio of 35 to 37 appellations, resulting in approximately 66 distinct cuvées. The Grand Cru holdings form the crown of the estate: parcels in Richebourg, Grands Échezeaux, Échezeaux, and Clos de Vougeot. Premier Cru vineyards span both the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, including Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots, Les Petits Monts, and En Orveaux; Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Boudots; Vougeot Les Cras and Les Petits Vougeots; Beaune Les Avaux; Pernand-Vergelesses Les Vergelesses; and Savigny-les-Beaune Les Narbantons. Village and regional wines round out the range, covering appellations from Marsannay and Fixin in the north to Coteaux Bourguignons. The vineyards are planted predominantly to Pinot Noir, with small amounts of Chardonnay, Aligoté, and an experimental Malbec, all on clay-limestone soils at mid-slope southeast-facing positions, with average vine age of 40 to 50 years.

• Four Grand Cru holdings: Richebourg, Grands Échezeaux, Échezeaux, and Clos de Vougeot
• Premier Cru parcels in Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vougeot, Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses, and Savigny-les-Beaune
• Average vine age across the estate is 40-50 years on clay-limestone, mid-slope, southeast-facing soils
• 35-37 appellations and approximately 66 cuvées produced from 30 hectares

Vincent Mongeard's approach in the cellar is guided by respect for terroir and a preference for traditional techniques over technical intervention. Fermentations begin with a cold pre-fermentation maceration of four to five days, followed by natural fermentation lasting 12 to 15 days. The wines then age for 18 to 22 months in air-dried Allier and Nièvre oak barrels, with the proportion of new oak calibrated individually for each cuvée: minimal for village-level wines, higher for Grand Crus. All wines are bottled unfiltered. Vincent works directly with cooper Rousseau, selecting and aging the oak on-site before barrels are assembled, giving the domaine unusually close control over this critical input. The estate maintains HVE certification and has long emphasized sustainable viticulture, including the green harvesting Vincent introduced in the 1970s and 1980s.

• Cold pre-fermentation maceration of 4-5 days followed by 12-15 days natural fermentation
• 18-22 months aging in air-dried Allier and Nièvre oak; new oak percentage varies by appellation level
• All wines bottled unfiltered; oak is selected and aged on-site in collaboration with cooper Rousseau
• HVE (Haute Valeur Environnementale) certified; green harvesting practiced since the late 1970s

Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret occupies a distinctive and important position in Burgundy for several reasons. It offers access to four Grand Cru terroirs from a single family-owned estate with continuous records stretching to 1620, a lineage that very few producers anywhere in the world can match. Vincent Mongeard's early adoption of green harvesting, sustainable viticulture, and unfiltered bottling placed him ahead of the regional curve, and his influence on modern Burgundian practice is underappreciated relative to more celebrated names. The breadth of the portfolio, spanning more than 35 appellations from Marsannay to Beaune, makes the domaine an ideal reference point for studying how terroir expresses itself across the Côte de Nuits and into the Côte de Beaune. With the fourth generation now entering the cellar in the person of Maxence Mongeard, the estate is positioned to carry this tradition well into the 21st century.

• One of Burgundy's oldest continuously documented family estates, with winemaking records from 1620
• Vincent Mongeard was an early proponent of green harvesting and unfiltered bottling, practices now standard across Burgundy
• Four Grand Cru holdings and 35-plus appellations in a single domaine provide unmatched breadth for Burgundy study
• Fourth generation now entering the cellar; Cuvée Maxence marks the transition with an 812-bottle inaugural release