The Moutard family has been making Champagne for the past 4 centuries. Francois Moutard and his two sisters, Agnes and Veronique, are fervent defenders of the family heritage. Never resting on their laurels, the family has ventured into Burgundy, a logical avenue for expansion given its proximity to Champagne and grape varietal mix. Moutard - Diligent is the result of a union in 1960 between Lucien Moutard and Josette Diligent, Francois' parents. The Domaine Moutard-Diligent extends over 25 ha in Chablis and Tonnerois. History, tradition and a commitment to unsurpassable quality define the domaine.

François Moutard bought in 2010 Domaine de la Bretauche in Chablis to Mister Louis Bellot, representing 15 hectares of vineyard in Chablis and the surrounding region on North of Burgundy such as Tonnerre & Épineuil.

The Tonnerrois region lies in the southern Yonne not far from Chablis. One of its communes, Épineuil (home of Alfred Grévin, founder of the Paris waxwork museum which bears his name), won the official right to identify its wines by name within the general appellation Bourgogne in 1993 for red and rosé wines.

Here the abbeys of Saint-Michel and Quincy produce wines whose reputation goes back to the high Middle Ages. For a long time they supplied Paris with wine. Illustrious personalities such as Henri IV, Boileau, and the cross-dressing Chevalier d’Éon helped to popularise “the good wine of Tonnerre”. The vineyards were destroyed by phylloxera but have made a comeback since the late 1970’s around Épineuil, thanks to strict selection of terroirs and grape varieties. The revival took in all 9 communes of the Tonnerrois district and recently they combined under the appellation Bourgogne Tonnerre.

The Tonnerre vineyards are situated on unique and complex soils formed from an Upper Jurassic sea-bed about 180 million years ago. Lime-clay soils are dominant here, but the geological originality of appellation Bourgogne Tonnerre resides in its sub-strata, often quite near the surface, of kimmeridgean limestone, formed by billions of tiny fossilised oyster shells called ostrea virgula. It is this prized “Kimmeridgian” limestone that contributes to the special character of Bourgogne Tonnerre its steely, floral bouquet, its delicate, crisp, refined flavor and most important, it’s underlying mineral character.

The Domaine de la Bretauche wines are both high quality and amazing values in the increasingly expensive region of Burgundy.