Domaine Chamonard
| Vigneron | Jean-Claude Chanudet |
| Location | Villié Morgon (Rhône) |
| Size of Domaine | 5.5 ha |
| Terroir | Continental climate. Schist and decomposed granite on granite bedrock. Steep slopes. 350m altitude. |
| Viticulture | Practising organic |
| View Domaine Chamonard wines ↓ |
Jean-Claude Chanudet aka Le Chat and the late Marcel Lapierre were close childhood friends; they used to spin a globe, pick a country and travel the world together, working their way wherever they went. The two friends also set up Château Cambon which Jean-Claude still vinifies along with Marcel’s wife.
Following his father-in-law’s passing in 1990 the discreet but charismatic Le Chat decided to settle down and took over Domaine Joseph Chamonard. He was part of the clique which first spoke out for natural wine although he is now vehemently against the dogma of the movement that he derides as a new religion.
Jean-Claude and his wife Geneviève have 5ha of vines in Morgon and 0.5ha of 60yo vines in Fleurie on the mythical slope of La Madone. The wines are vinified with stems through carbonic maceration and aged in a mix of foudres, fûts and stainless steel, whose proportions are adjusted every year according to the qualities of the fruit. They believe gamay is not a grape suited to over extraction and make long-lived wines of great finesse, that are pale in colour with a wonderful texture and minerality.
Domaine Chamonard Wines
MORGON 2017
100% Gamay
100% Gamay (13% alc.)
Jean-Claude has 5 ha of old vine Morgon (up to 80yo) on the slopes of Corcelette, Grand Cras and Chênes. Aged for 11 months in 80% older fûts and 20% cuve, it is already showing beautifully. It has a gorgeous dark red cherry colour, totally at ease with itself, and composed harmonious fruit with silky tannins and an irony print on the finish. It’s a wine that can be drunk with great pleasure now but will also age well over the next five years or so.
Jean-claude Chanudet Wines
FLEURIE 2019
La Madone
100% Gamay
100% Gamay (13.5% alc.)
La Madone, the most famous plot in Fleurie, and at 430m the highest of the appellation, offers a soil of pale pink decomposed granite, on a granite bedrock. Jean-Claude (along with Marcel Lapierre one of the forefathers of the movement towards better viticulture and lower use of sulphur) produces the most elegant expression possible from his wife Geneviève’s vines. It has a gentle colour, violet note on the nose, a wonderfully supple texture, and red and black fruits backed by a strong mineral character on the finish.