Morey-Saint-Denis

This vineyard is above Clos de Tart, on soil similar to that of Chassagne-Montrachet. Aromas of citrus fruits combine with buttered toast. In the mouth, there is an impressive density of fruit which cedes to an intense, mineral freshness and lingering notes of struck-match reduction. Gorgeous! Drink 2020-2025.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

This excellent domaine in Vosne-Romanée has flown under the radar – perhaps because Jean-Pierre Guyon spends so much of his time out in the vineyards, which have been farmed organically since 2006, certified from 2012. With his high-pedigree viticulture as a great starting point, Jean-Pierre can employ whole-bunch fermentation as the stalks are ripe, eschewing the use of sulphur at this stage, though some is added during élevage and at bottling to assure stability. Despite obvious frustration at the small volumes, Jean-Pierre Guyon is delighted with the quality of his 2016s. He describes it as a vintage of great Pinot Noir typicity, which will be greater than 2015, explaining that the wines' saline character will have you reaching for the next glass. As ever, the grapes here were picked a touch later than many estates to ensure the stems were fully ripe. He only bought six new barrels for the entire 2016 crop, so the proportion of new oak is reduced.

Morey-St Denis, Les Faconnières offers a dense, purple colour with an almost black centre. Virgile considers the soil to be similar to Clos de la Roche. It is more backward than the other Premiers Crus, dense and ungiving at this stage yet with a magical intensity of fruit, a crunchy finish, and excellent balance. Drink 2002-2028

When Virgile Lignier came back from his brief summer holidays, he toured the vines and saw a bit of rot on a biggish (by recent standards) crop, so he took a substantial team round to remove damaged bunches and anything unripe. He picked the healthy grapes from 17th September and gave the new vintage a long but light extraction. He has made some very succulent, juicy wines here in 2014. 

Sérafin has two plots in this well-regarded Premier Cru, one with 60-year-old vines, the other closer to 40 years old. The purity and delicacy of the vineyard is evident and, given the vineyard’s proximity to both Clos de la Roche and Clos St Denis, there is much elegance in evidence too. Drink 2022-2027.

The harvest was done early and quickly here, starting on 6th September and finished by 12th. Karine Sérafin explained that the estate was harvesting earlier than before, to keep more freshness in the wines, and also working more with leaf coverage. The old vines negated any need to green harvest and yields are up by only 20 percent from 2016, but otherwise Karine and her cousin Frédérique are intent on preserving the individuality of Christian Sérafin’s style for vins de garde, with 100 percent new oak for everything upwards from the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes.

A graceful tint of pale purple. Floral, with appealing sweet red fruit, clearly some concentration to the cherry and raspberry fruit, while there is clearly much more to emerge later on.
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer

The nose is very sensual and classy, with ripe cherry fruit giving a sense of very small, concentrated, ripe grapes. The wine has a very precise, pure, linear intensity, with a marvellous power. There is a superb nervous tension, with deep, dark fruit too cool to be called exuberant. Crisp with fine fruit, black cherry on the palate, lush and nicely put together, ripe tannins and crisp acidity: this is very fine. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

 

Rich, glowing purple, the nose is filled with blackberry fruit, yet also a certain strictness. The palate reveals as much red as black fruit, with a good thread of mineral acidity and some tannin; indeed the structure is important with this wealth of fruit.

When Virgile Lignier came back from his brief summer holidays, he toured the vines and saw a bit of rot on a biggish (by recent standards) crop, so he took a substantial team round to remove damaged bunches and anything unripe. He picked the healthy grapes from 17th September and gave the new vintage a long but light extraction. He has made some very succulent, juicy wines here in 2014.

This starts promisingly with a glowing, purple colour throughout. It enjoys a very fine, heady nose, succulent and satiny, with a little touch of darker fruit, beautiful concentration and elegance. The whole is supported by a firm structure. This is swimmingly good, with a really long finish to boot.

Our jovial friend Jérôme Castagnier has excelled himself this year. The promise we picked up on last year has really been delivered in 2014. He says that the wines have lovely flesh but also a beautiful freshness, and notes some similarities to 2010. His generic Burgundies (available on www.bbr.com/burgundy2014) are also excellent.

Bright purple with medium density, this has a ripe, red-cherry nose. The elegant fruit is backed by a surprisingly firm structure which will require time.

Though we still have the pleasure of tasting with Christian Sérafin, it is now his niece, Frédérique who is solely responsible for winemaking. Christian describes 2014 as being all about elegance and balance, with neither too much acidity nor tannin. The Sérafin wines always repay patience.

Black in colour with a purple rim, this has very strong dark fruit on the nose, but is so backward on the palate. It’s an immensely powerful wine, with rich texture and great length. The very dark fruit creates a rich yet fresh palate. There’s a superb aftertaste once again. Drink 2025-2035.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Jérôme Castagnier is the Guide Hachette’s Burgundian vigneron of the year for 2017 and has been shortlisted for young vigneron of the year in the region’s own awards, so it is all happening for him. He began picking his 2015s on September 9th and finished on Saturday 12th before the rain that fell later that day. This year he has used one-third whole bunches for his village wines and the Crus, and in the last two years has refined his barrel regime so that the wood has less impact on the wine. Note that the malolactic fermentation was only just finishing when we tasted and this may have impacted the bouquets.

A rich purple but less black, there is a bit more refinement here. The wine has excellent weight, with a good mass of fruit behind which is lively all the way through. The blueberry notes are elegant with nuances. It’s very persistent indeed – a wine for the long term. Drink 2025-2035.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Jérôme Castagnier is the Guide Hachette’s Burgundian vigneron of the year for 2017 and has been shortlisted for young vigneron of the year in the region’s own awards, so it is all happening for him. He began picking his 2015s on September 9th and finished on Saturday 12th before the rain that fell later that day. This year he has used one-third whole bunches for his village wines and the Crus, and in the last two years has refined his barrel regime so that the wood has less impact on the wine. Note that the malolactic fermentation was only just finishing when we tasted and this may have impacted the bouquets.

Very dense, rich purple, there is a wealth of fruit on the nose, backward but balanced. Very concentrated, the nose is a lovely mix of red and black fruits, dark raspberry leaf, even a savoury blueberry touch, which is very typical of the appellation. The palate continues the blue-fruit theme and majors on a classical, tightly woven texture with seamless tannins. This is a brilliant Clos de la Roche in 2014, a true reflection of the heart of the vineyard.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

The glowing purple colour comes in part from the new wood (there is only one barrel of this wine).The bouquet demonstrates the requisite weight and glossiness while there follows a magical explosion on the palate of vigorous, dense fruit and some firm structure with oak tannins. This will be a very long-lived wine. Drink 2026-2040.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With more than 35 vintages under his belt, Patrice Rion considers that 2015 is the finest of his career, offering elegance, acidity and persistence. They began picking on 5th September and finished before the rain which arrived the following weekend. The only sorting that needed doing was to remove any dried-out berries. The yields were acceptable, just 10 percent down in volume on the previous vintage. Unusually, Patrice and his son Maxime have used some whole bunches on certain cuvées, notably the Clos des Argillières and Clos St Marc.