2018 J. Moreau et Fils Chablis 750 ml

Simply put, J. Moreau & Fils Chablis is a dream wine for anyone who loves Chardonnay in its natural glory: citrusy, lively, and elegant. The sheer pleasure-to-price ratio of the 2018 evoked nothing but nodding heads and flat-out agreement from our team. This is a white wine that didn’t just meet our strict standards, but blew past them.

J. Moreau is one of the oldest and most revered names in Chablis, and 200 years of history allows the estate to deliver the pleasure, the provenance, and the pedigree of Burgundy’s best, at a fantastic price. 

This is a perfect pairing with oysters, shellfish, or any type of seafood, and a wine that just got better when we got into the details: Because of the Moreau family’s deep roots in the region, plus the fact that we got our purchase order in just moments after tasting this wine, this Chardonnay stunner is just $24. We'll be buying it by the case, and this is going to be our go-to Chablis, until it’s all gone. 

This is a supremely vivid wine: freshly cut nectarine and white peach aromas mingle with golden apple, propelled by citrus zest and chalky minerality before reaching a mouthwatering crescendo on the palate, where orchard and stone fruit collide in a beautiful harmony. Vibrant and smooth on the palate, J. Moreau’s 2018 glows with pure Chablisien elegance and charm. 

The house was founded in 1814, after Jean-Joseph Moreau, a cooper, married into a winemaking family. He eventually took control of the wine production, and the family’s success in the region is written in its longevity, and in the proliferation of quality Chablis wines bearing the Moreau name… not to mention the dozens of top scores the domaine’s wines have received in the past decade. 

Chablis is defined by its Kimmeridgian soil, which consists largely of the fossilized remains of the mollusk Exogyra Virgula, which were deposited in a geologic blink of an eye (over a period of just 5 million years) about 150 million years ago. This special soil—crumbly, porous, imprinted with the tiny fossilized oyster shells—has been long known for producing the incomparable Chardonnay in Champagne and Chablis, and gives wines like this the extra je ne sais quoi that makes them transcendent. 

After we snapped out of our tasting reverie, we negotiated the best price in the nation on this stunner—and our best deal yet on Chablis in 2020—$24 for pure, sublime Chardonnay elegance. From the astonishing 2018 vintage in Chablis, we suggest claiming your share of this unmatched bargain quickly.