The Mongeard family arrived in Vosne-Romanée in the eighteenth century, with records showing a Mongeard working as vigneron for Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1786. In 1945, Jean Mongeard, whose mother was a Mugneret, found himself making wine at the age of 16 in the place of his father who had died years earlier.
The entire 1945 crop was purchased by Baron le Roy, Marquis d’Angerville, and Henri Gouges. Gouges instructed the young Mongeard to personally bottle the wines, rather than sell in barrel. In 1975, Vincent Mongeard, Jean’s son, began working alongside his father and became responsible for viticulture and vinification of the domaine’s wines. He persuaded his father to return to the traditional method of bottling, without filtration, filtering only with certain vintages.
Jean Mongeard retired in 1995, and Vincent assumed complete leadership of the domaine. Today, Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret covers a total area of more than 75 acres, split among 35 appellations. The varied range of climats in which the Mongeards own vineyards results, naturally, in wines of great diversity.
91 Points Robert Parker
The 2016 Vougeot 1er Cru Les Cras opens in the glass with notes of smoky cassis, raspberries, espresso roast and spices, framed by toasty oak. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, broad and supple, with a vivid core of fruit, racy acids and fine but youthfully chewy tannins, concluding with a penetrating and oak-inflected finish. This is a success in its somewhat old-fashioned style and will reward bottle age.