© O. Styles
La Moutonne is a small vineyard of just 2.5 hectares (six acres) located on the Grand Cru hillside of Chablis. Although not officially recognized by the French appellations body (the INAO) as a climat of the Chablis Grand Cru appellation, La Moutonne wines have been permitted to carry the "Chablis Grand Cru" title since the 1950s. La Moutonne wines are, like all Chablis wine, made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
La Moutonne sits in a natural amphitheater, mostly (roughly 95 percent) within the Vaudesir Grand Cru vineyard but with a small protrusion into Les Preuses. For reasons which remain unclear, this small vineyard was excluded from classification when the Chablis Grand Cru appellation was drafted back in 1938.
Like all vineyards on this prestigious hillside overlooking the town of Chablis, La Moutonne benefits from the limestone-clay 'Kimmeridgian' soils which have become so strongly associated with Chablis and its top wines. These soils, formed from millions and millions of tiny marine fossils, were once part of an ancient seabed.
The loosely textured clay limestone helps to limit the vines' vigor and yield, increasing concentration in the grapes. It is also credited for the wines' distinct mineral character.
La Moutonne faces predominantly south, although the gentle curve of the hillside means that some of the vines face to the southeast. This, coupled with a relatively steep gradient (which increases sunlight exposure and drainage), means that La Moutonne has a warmer mesoclimate than vineyards lower down. It also enjoys shelter from the cold, biting winds which sometimes blow in from the north.
The La Moutonne vineyard is a monopole, owned by Domaine Long-Depaquit (itself owned by Domaines Albert Bichot). This puts La Moutonne in good company; other famous monopole vineyards in Burgundy include the famous Romanee-Conti.
