Maison Lucien Le Moine

Mounir Saouma grew up in Lebanon and was introduced to wine inside a Trappist monastery in the Middle East in the late 1980s, where he worked in the vineyards under his uncle, the abbot, for several years. He then moved to France to study oenology and viticulture in Montpellier. Rotem Brakin grew up in Israel and came to France to study agriculture in Dijon, where she eventually turned her focus to wine. The couple met during their studies and launched Maison Lucien Le Moine together in 1999 in Beaune. The house name is personal rather than a reference to Burgundy history: Mounir in Arabic means light, and the French equivalent is Lucien. Le Moine (the monk) refers to the years Mounir spent in the monastery before his formal training. The maison is one of the small contemporary Beaune negociant-eleveurs, alongside houses such as Maison Olivier Bernstein (founded 2007) and Maison Benjamin Leroux (founded 2007 as a side project, 2014 full-time), although Le Moine predates both and has built its identity around extended elevage in older oak.

• Mounir Saouma worked in the vineyards of a Trappist monastery in the Middle East in the late 1980s before studying oenology in Montpellier
• Rotem Brakin studied agriculture in Dijon before turning to wine; the couple met during their French studies and founded Lucien Le Moine together in 1999
• Name is personal, not historical: Mounir = light in Arabic, French equivalent Lucien; Le Moine (the monk) refers to the monastery years
• Part of the small contemporary Beaune negociant-eleveur cohort, alongside Maison Olivier Bernstein and Maison Benjamin Leroux

The Lucien Le Moine cellar discipline centers on long, patient elevage in older oak barrels with the wine left to rest on its fine lees. Mounir and Rotem buy finished must from selected growers rather than grapes, transfer the wines to barrels typically five to ten years old, and leave them on the lees without racking for roughly sixteen to twenty-four months depending on the cuvee. New oak usage is very low or none, in contrast to the high-toast new-barrel programs that defined Burgundy in the 1990s. The aromatic-textural register that comes out of this approach is rich, lees-derived, and slightly oxidative in feel compared to the reductive-mineral school of producers such as Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey or the chiseled mineral style of Domaine Roulot. The cellar in Beaune holds a maximum of about 100 barrels and the per-cuvee production is small: most grand cru cuvees come from one to three barrels, with a single cask not unusual at the most rarefied addresses. Wines are bottled without fining or filtration.

• Finished must bought from selected growers and transferred to older oak barrels (five to ten years old) for long elevage on fine lees
• Roughly 16 to 24 months on the lees without racking depending on the cuvee; very low or no new oak usage
• Resulting style is rich and lees-derived, distinct from the reductive-mineral school and from high-new-oak Burgundy houses
• Most grand cru cuvees come from one to three barrels (often a single cask); bottled without fining or filtration

Despite the small overall scale, the range of cuvees produced under the Lucien Le Moine label is unusually wide. Grand crus span both halves of the Cote d'Or: from Gevrey-Chambertin the house has produced Chambertin, Chambertin Clos de Beze, Charmes-Chambertin, and Latricieres-Chambertin; from Morey-Saint-Denis, Clos de la Roche; from Chambolle-Musigny, Bonnes-Mares and Musigny; from Vougeot, Clos de Vougeot; from Vosne-Romanee, Romanee-Saint-Vivant; and from the Cote de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne, Batard-Montrachet, and Le Montrachet at the top of the white grand cru ladder. The premier cru tier covers Vosne-Romanee, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Volnay, Pommard, and Beaune among other villages. With production rotating by vintage and per-bottling totals typically in the low hundreds, allocations route through specialist retailers globally, often on multi-year customer relationships.

• Cote de Nuits grand crus: Chambertin, Chambertin Clos de Beze, Charmes-Chambertin, Latricieres-Chambertin, Clos de la Roche, Bonnes-Mares, Musigny, Clos de Vougeot, Romanee-Saint-Vivant
• Cote de Beaune grand crus: Corton-Charlemagne, Batard-Montrachet, Le Montrachet
• Premier cru tier covers Vosne, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Gevrey, Chambolle, Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and other villages
• Per-cuvee production typically in the low hundreds of bottles; allocations restricted through specialist retailers worldwide

In 2009 Mounir and Rotem expanded south, acquiring an initial parcel in the Pignan lieu-dit at Chateauneuf-du-Pape that became the foundation of Clos Saouma. The southern Rhone operation runs under their own names (Rotem & Mounir Saouma) rather than the Lucien Le Moine label and now covers roughly 21 acres spread across multiple villages including Chateauneuf-du-Pape itself, Bedarrides, Sorgues, Courthezon, and Orange. Bottlings include Omnia, Arioso, Magis, and Inopia (the last from a difficult plot near Orange purchased in 2011, the name a Latin reference to working from nothing). The Rhone project applies a similar minimal-intervention ethos to Grenache, Mourvedre, and the supporting Chateauneuf varieties. The Burgundy and Chateauneuf operations are kept distinct in branding and in cellar work, but the household visibility of Mounir and Rotem as makers has built across both regions in parallel. No other regional projects are listed by the house at present.

• Chateauneuf-du-Pape operation founded in 2009 with an initial parcel at Pignan; runs under the Rotem & Mounir Saouma label rather than Lucien Le Moine
• Now roughly 21 acres across Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Bedarrides, Sorgues, Courthezon, and Orange
• Bottlings include Clos Saouma, Omnia, Arioso, Magis, and Inopia (Inopia from 2011, name a Latin reference to working from nothing)
• Burgundy and Chateauneuf operations are kept distinct in branding and cellar work; no other regional projects listed by the house