Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
It is hard to overstate my enthusiasm for this wine, with its impressive ripeness, plump, plummy fruit with notes of black cherry and liquorice. The texture is densely structured, firm but not hard, and long but not heavy. There is still the freshness and finesse to make this among the best wines of the vintage. This is the reunion of all the old-vine parcels in the Clos and a pretty convincing argument for director Jacques Devauges’ assertion that Lambrays is the pinnacle of Morey-St-Denis.
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Jasper Morris
I tasted four different cuvées, all of which had been vinified with 100% whole bunches, and then the final blend. La Plante Dessous seemed useful as a blending component but not quite Grand cru on its own. The other three were in a different league: Cerisier is not extra concentrated in colour but a fine red purple. The nose has much more elegance and nobility and shows the whole bunch more. There is unquestionably a cherry taste to the fruit, fresh white pepper, good acidity and fine length. Much more noble. Les 50 Ouvrées (Milieu) offers a little more depth to the vivid purple colour The nose shows more weight too with the fruit slight taking the lead over the vinification. A vast sweet red fruit mouthful here, cherries again but now with a denser raspberry note behind. Complex long aftertaste. Les 50 Ouvrées (Dessus) is bright crimson purple in colour. A vigorous solid nose, less evidence of the whole bunches (100%). Less flamboyant yet with great density. This could make the heart of the cuvée with the cherries from the others to add a top note. Very sensual, undoubtedly grand cru with a long rich red fruit finish elongated by the whole bunch vinification. Limestone tension, slower ripening here. And now for the blend. A lovely even ruby colour across the glass. The bouquet just starts to peep out slowly, 80% whole bunch as Plante Dessus and Milieu were destemmed in 2021. Just a little light pepper seasoning the deep red berry fruit which has a multiplicity of nuances. Overall, the wine has a magical sense of harmony but is the opposite of monolithic, showing waves of flavour and exquisite detail. If this continues to grow in the barrel, as Jacques suspects it will, it could well be a five star wine. Drink from 2028-2038.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
James Suckling
This is so delicate and trim, which is a big contrast to the ripe, rich and dense 2020 that was tasted alongside. Nuanced, medium-bodied and linear on the palate, with elegant red berries, moss, citrus and a touch of spearmint spreading across the palate. Poised, fine and lengthy.
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Wine Spectator
Rich yet vibrant and lacy, this red evokes cherry, rose, sandalwood and oak spice aromas and flavors. An elegant wine, on a broad skeleton, with finely meshed tannins and a long, spice-tinged finish.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
While Morey-St-Denis of Burgundy might not get the same attention as its neighbors, Gevrey-Chambertin to the north and Chambolle-Musigny to the south, there is no reason why it shouldn’t. The same line of limestone runs from the Combe de Lavaux in Gevrey—all the way through Morey—ending in Chambolle.
There are four grand cru vineyards, moving southwards from the border with Gevrey-Chambertin: Clos de la Roche, Clos St-Denis, Clos des Lambrays, Clos de Tart and a small segment of Bonnes-Mares overlapping from Chambolle. Clos de la Roche is probably the finest vineyard, giving wines of true depth, body, and sturdiness for the long haul than most other vineyards.
Pinot Noir from Morey-St-Denis is known for its deep red cherry, blackcurrant and blueberry fruit. Aromas of spice, licorice and purple flowers are present in the wines’ youth, evolving to forest and game as the wine ages.