Moreau-Naudet & Fils Chablis 1er Cru Les Forets 2023 1.5L

Domaine Moreau-Naudet carries roots in Chablis stretching back to the 17th century, with family ties running through Alfred Naudet, a key figure in the very definition of the Chablis AOC in 1929. The estate's modern chapter began in 1993, when Stéphane Moreau took over what had been a small grower supplying grapes to négociants, and alongside his wife Virginie, transformed it into one of the benchmark names in all of Chablis — Jean-Marie Raveneau himself, arguably the appellation's greatest living producer, once called their Forêts simply "the best on Forêts, no contest." Tragically, Stéphane died suddenly in September 2016, on the very eve of harvest, at just 47; Virginie has carried the estate forward ever since, supported by trusted cellar master Coco, in what's become as much a tribute to Stéphane's legacy as to her own quiet strength. The domaine farms organically, hand-harvests, and ferments on indigenous yeasts, letting the terroir speak rather than imposing winemaking style. Les Forêts itself is one of Chablis's most powerful and intense Premier Cru sites, sitting on classic Kimmeridgian limestone bordering Montmains — the estate's two parcels here, totalling under two hectares, sit directly alongside the vines of Vincent Dauvissat and Jean-Marie Raveneau themselves.

The result is taut and mineral-driven: citrus peel, white flowers, sea spray, and crushed stone lead, aged on fine lees for real texture balanced against electric acidity. It's widely considered the most powerful and grippy of Moreau-Naudet's Premier Crus, a gastronomic, long, and intensely mineral expression of the appellation's most prized Kimmeridgian ground — with serious ageing potential stretching fifteen years or more.