Morey-Saint-Denis
Morey-St Denis is the smallest viticultural village of the Côte de Nuits – Vougeot apart – with under 150 hectares of vines. The commune is very narrow, less than 1.5 kilometres wide on entering Morey from Chambolle on the Route des Grands Crus, leaving it for Gevrey.
Learn more about Morey-Saint-Denis
Morey is sometimes ignored between its two famous neighbours, Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin, but its wines are of equal class, combining elegance and structure. Morey-St Denis, being that little bit less famous, can often provide excellent value.
The four main Grand Cru vineyards continue in a line from those of Gevrey-Chambertin, with Clos St Denis and Clos de la Roche the most widely available. Clos des Lambrays (almost) and Clos de Tart (entirely) are monopolies of the domains which bear the same names.
Domaine Dujac and Domaine Ponsot also make rare white wines in Morey-St Denis.
- 64 hectares of village Morey-St Denis
- 33 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (20 in all). Best vineyards include Les Charmes, Les Millandes, Clos de la Bussière, Les Monts Luisants
- 40 hectares of Grand Cru vineyard. Clos de Tart, Clos des Lambrays, Clos de la Roche, Clos St Denis and a tiny part of Bonnes Mares
- Recommended Producers: Dujac, Ponsot, Clos de Tart, Domaine des Lambrays
Prices:
Bottle
£37.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 7cs
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.
Bottle
£37.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Bottle
£44.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 56cs
The clay in the soil here gives a depth of flavour and a roundness of style to this wine. It is pure purple in colour, with a lovely generosity of fruit, yet still with the freshness of the vintage. Very pure and long.
Jasper Morris MW – Wine Buyer
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 17cs
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.
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 13cs
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.
Bottle
£63.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 21cs
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.
Bottle
£63.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 10cs
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.
Bottle
£63.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 15cs
Rich, ripe purple colour with a sense of energy to the nose. It has ripe, glossy fruit, a touch dry behind, but with weight at the back of the palate. Fruit comes storming back at the finish to confirm the potential.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Christian Sérafin is very happy with how 2013 worked out in the end, though yields were once again 25% below normal, even if a touch more than in 2012. The team removed rot and unripe bunches in the vineyard, then waited to pick until after the wet weekend which helped both sugar and acidity.
Bottle
£68.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 10cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.
Bottle
£69.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 11cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.
Bottle
£69.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 20cs
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.
Bottle
£75.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 20cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
The Sérafins (Christian, his daughter Karine and niece Frédérique) do not rack their wines before bottling, having separated out all but the fine lees after the fermentation. Such is the concentration of the fruit in these wines that they can easily handle the new barrels in which they are being matured. The Sérafins take particular care to apportion particular forests and coopers to different cuvées. Overall, their crop is down by 30% in 2012.
Bottle
£90.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
After lengthy negotiations, we have secured a good allocation of these top class 2013s from Jérôme Castagnier. We fell just as much in love with the generic wines as with those further up the scale. Jérôme began on 1st October, taking pains to verify the ripeness of each vineyard before deciding the picking date. The grapes were all de-stemmed.
Bottle
£95.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 26cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
After lengthy negotiations, we have secured a good allocation of these top class 2013s from Jérôme Castagnier. We fell just as much in love with the generic wines as with those further up the scale. Jérôme began on 1st October, taking pains to verify the ripeness of each vineyard before deciding the picking date. The grapes were all de-stemmed.
Bottle
£95.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 19cs
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.
Bottle
£110.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 49cs
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.
Bottle
£110.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 8cs
Bottle
£120.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director Nicolas Potel has installed the négociant arm of his business on the Savigny side of town which gives him plenty of space for making and maturing the wines, along with logistics and office needs, while keeping his Domaine de Bellene operation completely separate in Beaune itself. The selling point here is consistent competence mixed with attractive pricing.
Bottle
£135.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 14cs
Burgundy 2012 En Primeur - Staff Favourite
Intense, ripe, dark and spicy. Huge depth and concentration across the broad, mouth filling palate. Fine acidity provides the vibrancy and drive. A very fine Grand Cru combining charm and finesse with extreme power. Patience required to see the best here.
Martyn Rolph, Fine Wine
This has been a favourite Roche de Bellene cuvée for a while. The 2012 has a beautiful fresh mid-purple colour, with a sublime, balanced, heady nose, that’s very floral and exquisitely poised. Fine-boned, precise red fruit on the palate, with some tannins behind to lend support and just enough acidity to complete the balance of the wine.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Nicolas Potel has retained the majority of his regular contracts in 2012, though a couple are missing after the hail. Like everybody else, he has had to pay more for his grapes though, especially at the top end of the hierarchy. But as ever there are some delicious wines in the range, and at the lower end the prices are thoroughly competitive.
Bottle
£140.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 10cs
The palate is well-balanced with a succulent opening, a touch of spice at the front of the mouth with the smooth, plush raspberry and wild strawberry fruit at the back. There is a pleasing long spicy aftertaste. This is burly Grand Cru that makes up what it is missing in finesse with weight and girth. Drink 2015-2025.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Aug 2013
Bottle
£175.00
Only one barrel of this wine is made for the whole world, from 40-year-old vines. With a bright, fresh purple colour, this has an attractive touch of wildness on the nose, typical of Bonnes Mares, with a wealth of fruit behind, a perfect balance of acidity, and excellent length.
Patrice Rion compares 2014 to a mix of 1979 and 1989 for the aromatics and delighted to have been able to pick a more or less normal-sized crop. He began on 12th September with healthy grapes, reinforced by his system of two sorting tables, one before and one after de-stemming. The amount of new oak has been reduced here, now just 30 percent on most cuvées.
Bottle
£195.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Despite this being a very late season, Patrice compares 2013 to the fruit of early vintages such as 2007 and 2011, but with more stuffing. It also reminds him of 1980, a particularly successful vintage chez Rion. The 2013 crop is a small one though, a touch more than 2012 but less than 2011. They employed two sorting tables, and since the grapes which reached the vats were all healthy, they used less sulphur during vinification.
Bottle
£225.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Picking began on 24th September through to 5th October, producing a tiny yield in Premeaux after heavy rain during flowering. However, Chambolle survived in places and did go through malolactic fermentation with ease, leaving Nuits-St Georges to be much later. Despite healthy fruit, the crop has been reduced severely, producing as little as 12 hl/ ha in places. Patrice uses 30% new wood on his village wines and 40% for his Premiers Crus. Wines marked as ‘Patrice Rion label’ are officially negoçiant cuvées, but in every case, except the village Chambolle-Musigny, the Rions have done all the vineyard work as well as made the wine.
Bottle
£225.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Buying Director
Bottle
£256.99
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Jacques Lardière is now in charge of a new project in Oregon, after 40 years at Louis Jadot, and Frédéric Barnier is fully installed in Beaune in his place. In principal, however, there are not expected to be any changes to the winemaking. Frédéric describes 2012 as a superb vintage for reds with very healthy grapes, despite the difficult growing season. He notes the exceptionally concentrated fruit coupled with good acidity. He just had to take care to avoid over firm tannins. The whites were more difficult but their practice of retaining a proportion of the malic acid has been useful this year. All the whites are now bottled with DIAM corks.
Bottle
£295.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 6cs
Jasper Morris MW,Berrys' Burgundy Director Jacques Lardière, a veteran of 40 vintages, has been joined by Frédéric Barnier who has rapidly developed a detailed knowledge of all the Jadot vineyards, as well as playing a major role in the cellar alongside Jacques. This year the reds have had a slightly shorter vatting time than usual which gives them a notable delicacy of touch. The whites have an excellent balancing acidity as Jadot have retained much of the malic acid this year. Almost all the Jadot wines we offer can be considered as domaine bottled, from one or other of their holdings.
Bottle
£295.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Frédéric Barnier believes that the harvest was saved by the fine weather at the end of August and the month of September. The reds were more in advance than the whites until the last moment and fermentations went really well, with early malolactics. The white wines are all bottled with Diam closures, the reds natural corks.
Bottle
£295.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle
£295.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 5cs
Case price (Jeroboam 1 x 300cl)
Jeroboam 1 x 300cl 1cs
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.