Pressoir Dinner Recap - Domaine Pierre Morey

Edouard Bourgeois
July 25, 2023

On Thursday last week, we had the pleasure of hosting some of you at a memorable dinner at Hearth and I think I can speak for everyone who attended to say the wines of Domaine Pierre Morey certainly met expectations.

Here is a little recap of my tasting notes but first a few words on the domaine. It is no wonder that the family name Morey is so present in Burgundy, especially in Meursault, where the family settled back in 1793. Immediately, the Moreys started growing grapes and making wine, generation after generation, perpetuating the name through marriages over the decades and even centuries. But going back to Domaine Pierre Morey, it is Pierre’s father Auguste who started playing an important role for the future domaine, as a sharecropper for the Lafon family (another famous name in Meursault with Jules Lafon, founder of La Paulée de Meursault a hundred years ago and his eponymous Domaine des Comtes Lafon). When Pierre Morey joined his father, he created what we know today as Domaine Pierre Morey. This was in 1971. Until 1984, Pierre was still in a sharecropping agreement with the Lafon family, making stellar wines from the best appellation of Meursault. 1984 marked the end of these sharecropping contracts and the Lafons recuperated full control of their vineyards. But shortly after, in 1988, Pierre was assigned the prestigious role of cellar master at the celebrated Domaine Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet. He excelled there for twenty years and was responsible for making wines that are still considered legendary today, while still making wine under his own name at Domaine Pierre Morey.

For about two decades now, Pierre’s daughter, Anne, has joined the family domaine, already converted to biodynamic practices since 1997. The wines continue to impress a loyal clientele of sommeliers and enthusiasts around the world.

RECEPTION:

We picked a trio of Aligotés from three different vintages: 2020, 2018 and 2014. All showed refinement and proved their ability to age, two features that are not often associated with that grape variety. The domaine planted their first Aligoté in 1969, all in the commune of Meursault on the clay-rich plots they own. What a great way to kick off this dinner!

FIRST FLIGHT:

A meli-melo of village Meursault from three vintages.

First, a 2019 Meix Tavaux, not to be confused with its more famous neighbor Meix Chavaux across the small valley that separates them. This wine is rarely seen as 2019 was the first vintage made by Pierre Morey and it comes from tiny parcel of just 0.29 ha. Beautiful, clean wine…

Meursault 2018: A blend of three parcels (Forges, Pellans and Chaumes), it perfectly illustrated the epitome of Meursault, with generosity while full of vitality in that vintage.

Terres Blanches 2017 closed the first flight brilliantly. The vineyard is on rather flat land right next to 1er Cru Goutte d’Or.

SECOND FLIGHT:

This vertical of Tessons did not disappoint!

Sourced from a 0.89 ha plot, Domaine Pierre Morey proves here the superior quality of this village level wine. While many wonder why Tessons was not ranked among 1er crus, the Moreys may have the explanation. This climat has been known for its remarkable quality for centuries and Dr. Jules Lavalle made no mistake when he ranked it “1ere Cuvee” back in 1855 with his own classification. But then the phylloxera crisis hit. And while most vineyards were replanted in time for the INAO government regulated appellation system, Tessons had been instead used for housing with not enough vines for the INAO to consider it 1er cru. Tessons only started to be replanted with vines in the 1950’s, two decades after the official ranking system was put in place.

2018, a vintage characterized by intense heat but large volumes of juice was excellent, showing precision and no “hot aromatics”.

2017, a perceptible acidity was felt and underlined intense minerality.

2013, While I find this vintage often difficult to love for red Burgundy, I have had better luck with whites. It was my favorite of this flight. Ten years looked great on this Tesson, perfectly delineated and homogeneous.

THIRD FLIGHT:

Perrieres is arguably the most famous and recognizable 1er cru of Meursault. Perched higher on the slope, its intense minerality can sometimes be a bit austere and the wines might need more time to soften up and gain charm. But it is important to point out that Perrieres is divided into two areas: Perrieres Dessus (above) and Perrieres Dessous (below) with the latter richer in top soil which gives roundness to its wines. Domaine Pierre Morey owns its 0.52 ha plot of Perrieres in the “Dessous”. Perfectly located, it is protected from the wind and receives generous sunlight.

2014: The classic example of Perrieres, electric and superior. A reminder of how special this climat is. From the moment I opened the bottle to a few hours alter, I tasted the multitude of facets it offered.

2010: My favorite of the flight. Such a gorgeous vintage for white Burgundy. Pitch perfect and screaming minerality.               

2009: I was first impressed by the freshness despite the nature of this hot vintage. However, I felt that the wine showed its true colors after aeration, revealing more alcohol on the nose, nonetheless a great wine.

FOURTH FLIGHT:

How to finish with a bang?

The grand finale was assured by a stunning vertical of Batard Montrachet, one of the Grands Crus in the communes of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet. In comparison to its neighbor, Batard often stands out with a big personality, a wine that can be massive in fact. However, I have always thought that in the hands of Pierre Morey, the beast is tamed and the minerality is mesmerizing. This could be explained by the fact that the domaine owns a plot in the upper section of the Grand Cru in the Clos Poirier, just below Montrachet and in the commune of Puligny-Montrachet.

2011: Really youthful and incredibly complex. This wine still has a long life ahead. It started to show lovely notes of evolution, suggesting orange peel and the impressive volume of Batard. Maybe the wine of the night.

2005: Another hit. Although more sturdy than 2011, this concentrated wine showed ample ripeness but not too much of it either. Impressively long finish and an exotic profile of tropical fruit with accents of pineapple and even pear.

1988: unfortunately, this bottle was corked but we were able to replace it with a bottle of Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 1992 from Morey-Blanc (the negociant label) The golden color showed evolution but the wine remained very pleasurable and characteristic of the rich profile of the climat.  

Closing Remarks on Opening the Clos

by Edouard Bourgeois
October 13, 2021

For those of you who were not able to join us at Benoit for this great wine dinner, here are some notes I wanted to share about the whole experience.

I thought the lineup was pretty impressive with, as always, a few bottles that stood out. Here are a few of my "favorites".

The wine dinner, as French as snails in garlic, (although we didn't get to enjoy this delicacy) started with a flight of the unique Champagne Philipponnat's Prestige Cuvée Clos des Goisses. It didn't come as a surprise that the 1996 affirmed its alluring personality and illustrated the powerful nature of the vintage eloquently and probably won wine of the flight (or wine of the night?). However, the other vintages certainly showed a promising future.

I loved the flight of 2017 red Burgundies that followed. I truly am a fan of the vintage and if typically in that wine region, I tend to think a vintage is more favorable to either the Chardonnay or the Pinot Noirs, I think 2017 touched both colors with grace. Although last night's 2017's were only red, I do encourage you to try some of the whites from the Cote de Beaune, they are very fine in my opinion. The winner on that flight? My vote goes to the Drouhin Clos Vougeot 2017. Once again, the respected négociant house confirmed its ability to offer elegance and delicate fruit even from a vineyard like Clos Vougeot, known for its robustness.

We then moved on to the "warm vintages flight" to accompany the mouth-watering, ultra classic "poulet-frites" as I like to call it. 2018 and 2015 certainly produced deep coloured Pinot Noir with broad shoulders. I thought that the Aloxe-Corton from Morey-Blanc was a hit. Ranked Premier Cru in the ocean of Grand Cru that surrounds it makes this plot "Clos du Chapitre" easy to overlook. However, I thought it was in a great spot, balanced and plump, without overwhelming heat.

We wrapped up with three opulent wines with the cheese course. Back to another Clos Vougeot, I was impressed with the volume and complexity of Hudelot-Noellat's 2015. We often talk about the location of one's vineyards within the vast Clos Vougeot appellation. Charles Van Canneyt of Hudelot-Noellat is lucky to own a parcel further up the hill, in arguably the best corner. As they say: "location, location, location"...

News from the vineyard 6/18/20

June 18, 2020
by Max Goldberg Liu

Continued warm weather in Burgundy means that the vines are still progressing at a very fast clip. Here, Nicolas Rossignol shows us La Nouaison (Fruit Setting) of his Volnay Taillepieds where the berries are growing rapidly. In some of his parcels, the clusters are nearly fully formed. Winemakers all over France are marveling at the precocity of their vines this year, with some areas an entire month ahead of the average growing season.

Interview with Mathilde Grivot

June 12, 2020
by Eléonore Lafarge

Can you give us an overview of your domaine? How long have you been working at the domaine?

Domaine J.Grivot is a family estate in Vosne-Romanée. We farm 15 hectares (37 acres) spread in 18 appellations from Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot. Regarding our work in the vineyard, we are farming sustainably all our vineyards. We make every decision according to what the plant needs and what the weather gives us.

As far as winemaking, we de-stemmed all our grapes. We love working with pinot noir. With this grape variety, we are always looking for precision, harmony, balance and freshness in our wines. We love to associate complexity, energy. We like when a wine gives you a thrill...

I started working at the domaine 10 years ago during the 2010 harvest! I have worked with my brother Hubert since that harvest and our parents, Etienne and Marielle are still helping us. Over the years, Hubert and I took more responsibilities. We added a new energy to the domaine while combining our parents’ experience. It's a very nice adventure. 

Did you make some changes in the vineyard and cellar work when you took over?

When I started working with my parents, our desire was to keep an evolution regarding the style of the wines. 

In the 90’s, my father worked on the stability of the wines as well as their ability to age and travel well. This can explain why his wines may have been a bit firm in their early years. When we taste them today, they are still young. In 1997, he focused on communication of the wines with his previous completions still in mind. At the end of the 2000’s, the new challenge was to keep the ageing ability associated with more precision, and more silky tannins while keeping the expressions from each terroir. I am thrilled to see the evolutions year after year. Wines combine freshness, precision, salinity and a graphite and juicy yet sappy side that I love!

In the vineyard, my father made many changes in the mid 80’s when he stopped using acaricides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. After this big change and a precise monitoring of our vines, we noticed a balance in our soils, a stability in the organic acids which allows us to reach perfect skin maturity and extract more without lacking acidity. 

Do you have new projects for the domaine? 

This has been a family domaine for 6 generations, it is important to us to keep its identity. All of my family members, my parents, brother, aunts and cousins all get along. It is important that everyone remains happy in this family structure. The ones working at the domaine as well as the rest of the family. 

The domaine has had a very good reputation for many years and we continue to establish our notoriety and make the wines evolve towards what we like: freshness, sophistication, energy and resonance. 

Have you always wanted to be a winemaker? What is an evidence to take over the winery or did it take a few years to realize you wanted to be a winemaker?

I have a nice story about this! When we were 8 and 10, my brother and I decided to take over the domaine together. When we told our parents, they were touched! And we never changed our minds!

I feel lucky to have this passionating job at an amazing location with dreamy appellations! I am the 6th generation to take over the estate and I am still fascinated by the complementarity of savoir-faire of my job. 

I was lucky to make vinifications in Pomerol at Vieux Château Certan as well as Domaine Drouhin in Oregon before coming back to Vosne-Romanée. These two amazing experiences made me more open-minded and taught me to always question myself. 

What is your favorite wine? Do you have a favorite vineyard to work in? 

I am not sure I have a favorite wine. What i know is that each wine has its own personality. Among our 18 appellations, some of them are soothing, some are dynamizing. I’m typically choosing the wine I want to drink according to how my day went.

For the last few years, we have been working on long growing seasons and a better extrability. The result of this work is wine with more body and more fruit. For example, we discovered incredible quality in our Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru “Les Pruliers” or in our Clos de Vougeot. We also found out that Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Chaumes” had a distinctive elegance and our Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Rouges” was unsuspectedly intense! 

Do you have a particularly memorable wine tasting experience ? 

A part of our vineyards belongs to my grandmother’s sister, Jacqueline Jayer. She kept wines from her winemaker’s years and she shared a bottle of Echezeaux 1947 a few years ago. 

With this complicated situation, can you still work in the vineyards and the cellar?

Covid-19 made everything more difficult. At the domaine, we adopted safety precautions. Now everyone uses their own tools and we practice social distancing in the vineyard. 

As winemakers, we are lucky to have this opportunity because Nature doesn’t wait! 2020 is an early vintage. With our team, we have been able to take care of our vineyards. We are not working in the cellar at the moment since the 2018 vintage is already bottled and the 2019 vintage is still in barrel. 

What is being done in the vineyards and the cellar right now?

The flowering is now over in all our vineyards and we are enjoying perfect weather. The vegatative cycle is harmonious but we’re three weeks early on schedule!  

Right now, we are doing what we call “relevage”. We place the vegetation in the double wire in order to guide it upright. The vine is a creeping plant that would naturally grow on the ground if we didn’t do this.

We also plow our vineyards to eliminate weeds using either a tractor or a horse.

Is it more complicated for a woman to be a winemaker?

Even though there are more and more women managing domaines, it is not easy everyday! We always have to prove that we are able to do it. 

However, I like this challenge. I have a warrior temper and associated with the finesse and feminine sensitivity, it gives great results. We are complementary with men and I think it is important to use everyone's strengths to succeed. This is what my brother and I do and it works very well.

Does climate change make it more difficult to work in the vineyards now compared to the generations before? Later frost? More hail? 

For the last few years, winters are warmer and it tends to kick off the beginning of the growing season at an earlier stage. Summers have been drier and warmer. This makes us reflect on the behavior of the vine in the face of this. What is certain is that we are getting better maturities now than in the 90’s. Since we started with my brother in 2010, we haven't had a bad vintage in 10 years ... We have had early vintages, like 2011 or late vintages like 2013 but no vintage with grapes of poor quality.