2020 Maison Harbour Chassagne-Montrachet Abbaye de Morgeot

Maison Harbour in Savigny-les-Beaune makes Premier Cru and villages Burgundy in a traditional style, though the maison’s backstory is anything but traditional. In a region where maisons and domaines typically are held in the same family for generations, Maison Harbour is a new producer started only a few years ago by a young Canadian/American couple with no previous winemaking experience and no family background in Burgundy or any other winemaking region. Colleen and Nicholas Harbour’s leap into the storied world of Burgundian winemaking started in 2011, when the couple quit their banking jobs in Luxembourg and enrolled in viticulture programs in Beaune. To support themselves they worked at a local negociant and domaines, and they bought grapes from local growers, which was itself an accomplishment considering their lack of history in the area. Remarkably, they were able to purchase grapes from Premier Cru parcels in Pommard, Gevrey-Chambertin and Chassange-Montrachet, as well as villages grapes from Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée. They make their wine in their garage and their very limited production is available normally only through a mailing list.

Chassagne-Montrachet is the appellation that covers the communes of Chassagne-Montrachet and Remigny, and it is the southern-most of the Côte d’Or’s three great white wine appellations of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. With 1,200 acres of vineyards, it is one of the largest appellations in the region, and more than half the vineyard acreage is Grand Cru or Premier Cru. The three famous Grand Crus are Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. There are also 16 main Premiers Crus, most of them considered very high quality, and village wines. One fact rarely noted is that historically the appellation produced more red than white wine. In the late 1990s the ratio of white to red wines changed, however, as more vineyards were converted from Pinot Noir to Chardonnay, a logical decision given the acclaim of the appellation’s whites. There are still intriguing red wines produced. Clive Coates wrote that the appellation’s white wines generally are “full and firm, more akin to Puligny than to the softer, rounder wines of Meursault.”

This white variety originated in Burgundy, but is now grown around the world. Its flexibility to thrive in many regions translates to wide flavor profile in the market. Chardonnay is commonly used in making Champagne and sparkling wines.