Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
‘Classic Pinot Noir’ according to winemaker Alessandro Noli. He has spared no expense to produce a superb wine, declassifying to premier cru swaths of the Clos that didn't meet his expectations. The result has a lovely ripe, expressive mulberry and pomegranate fruit with accents of earth and sweet oak spice and a silky precision to the texture that is firm if less powerful than in recent years. The overall result is a beautiful expression of the Morey terroir.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unwinding in the glass to reveal notions of sweet red berries and plums mingled with orange zest, rose petals and sweet spices, the 2021 Clos de Tart Grand Cru is full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a textural attack that segues into a layered, enveloping mid-palate, framed by sweet, powdery tannins and ripe acids. This combines all the inherent charm of the vintage with rare depth and seriousness.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Jasper Morris
Just a little more depth of colour than Forges, but not by much. The bouquet suggests a greater depth of classy red fruit, all about subtlety rather than power. This is about the tensile strength rather than overt power. A redcurrant and raspberry fruit, all red berries, fine boned tannins and a good balance with the acidity. Everything in its place, a fine long finish, but absolutely not the more monolithic style of an earlier period. Drink from 2029-2040.
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.