Mommessin

Founded in 1865 as a spirits business in the Maconnais, Mommessin became a serious Burgundy name through a stroke of bad luck: in the early 1930s, Henri Mommessin lost an auction for a parcel of Moulin-a-Vent he wanted, and bought the next-best thing available instead — the Clos de Tart monopole, one of Burgundy's great Grand Cru walled vineyards, entire and undivided. The family sold Clos de Tart on in 2017, but the house that grew out of that consolation purchase remains a serious Maconnais and Beaujolais negociant today.