Winemaker Notes
A beautiful dark ruby color. A nose of great finesse, and aromas of red fruits: strawberry, raspberry and blackcurrant. Extremely polished and rich with an impressive spicy, berry character and tons of ultra-fine tannins. It is an elegant companion to red meat, cheese and game.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Aromas of tar and smoke, with very pure, concentrated blackberry and spice notes underneath mark this exotic, seductive red. Silky and complex, it caresses the palate. It needs a little time to absorb the oak, but this is long and has great potential. Best from 2009 through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2003 Clos de Tart, tasted at the estate and then again from an acquired bottle to witness the effect of air on it, is an outstanding, potentially exceptional wine. That being said, I can’t help but wonder how magnificent it would have been if it had not been acidified. It is dark ruby/purple-colored and bursts from the glass with black cherries, blackberries, and roasting spices. Intensely powerful, this wine boasts superb concentration and depth. A mouth-coating, full-bodied, thick effort, it slathers the palate with black fruits. This sappy, chunky wine possesses an extremely long finish with firm, hard tannin. Air was kind to this 2003, bringing elegance to its muscular nature, and slightly sweetening its tannin. Projected maturity: 2010-2025+.
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.