Winemaker Notes
“Trilogie” is produced from small holdings of very old plantings in three different Morey-Saint-Denis lieux-dits: “Chenevery,” “Clos Solon,” and “Porroux,” with vines planted between 1936 and 1972. This impressive villages-level wine is denser and more concentrated than the “Tres Girard”, showing a more classically savory Morey character and a highly attractive sappiness of fruit, as well as a expressive nose. Although it is relatively generous and open-knit, it should reward a few years of cellaring as well.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
As the name of his wine suggests, Laurent Lignier gets his fruit from three different parcels - Les Porroux, Clos Solon and Les Chenevery - to make a super village cuvée. Stylish and well balanced, it's made with 25% stems and 20% new wood. It's wonderfully scented and pure with a long, sappy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis "Trilogie" hails from three lieux-dits, this year working out at around 60% Chenevery, 30% Porroux and 15% Clos Solon, and it was vinified with 25% whole cluster. Offering up aromas of sweet berries, cassis, licorice, cinnamon and chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered with a rich but lively core of fruit and fine but chalky structuring tannins. As usual, it's one of the finest renditions of the appellation.
Barrel Sample: 89-91
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.