Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
In 1865, Jean-Marie Mommessin founded the wine making firm that bears his name in Burgundy, an area known as a cradle of viticulture just north of Lyon. In 1889, Mommessin acquired La Grange Saint-Pierre, ancient stone buildings in Macon that originally belonged to the Abbey of Cluny. Its key, the Key of St. Peter, became the famous house emblem and remains so still.
Today, the 5th generation of the Mommessin family produces and bottles wines with an abiding respect for each wine's unique character - ever careful to produce results that are "true to their type," and therefore perfect examples of their appellation.
The most acclaimed region of Burgundy, the Côte d’Or is defined by a long, limestone escarpment beneath the ground's surface and is home to all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. While Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are produced throughout the Côte d’Or, the north tends to excel at Pinot Noir and the south, at Chardonnay.
The northern half of the Côte d’Or is called the Côte de Nuits. Here reside most of the Pinot noir Grands Crus vineyards of Burgundy—the only one farther south, in Côte de Beaune, is Aloxe-Corton.
The Côte de Beaune is the center all of the Chardonnay Grands Crus with the exception of Le Musingy, found in Chambolle-Musigny in the Côte de Nuits, which produces both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with Grand Cru status.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”