MOREY SAINT DENIS

There are plenty of sauvage and earth elements on the softly spiced aromas of plum and dark currant. The big-bodied and ultra-intense flavors possess terrific energy while terminating in a beautifully persistent finish that is shaped by dense but relatively fine tannins on the impressively complex finish. This built-to-age effort will need at least a few years of cellaring first. Drinking range: 2028 - Rating: 91-93 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2018)

(from slightly deeper soil than the Aux Charmes; made with 90% whole clusters): Good medium red. Riper and initially more exotic on the nose, but the aroma of black cherry is enlivened by orange zest and mango notes. Juicy and pure but a bit youthfully tight, and the least leathery of these 2016s to this point. Not quite as supple as the preceding wines but boasts lovely freshness and energy and finishes with a firm spine of dusty tannins and excellent length. Lignier told me this wine was a bit herbaceous at the beginning owing to the vinification with 90% whole clusters, but now it's zesty. There's also a sexy minerality that runs through the wine from entry to aftertaste. Lignier took back these vines in 2008, noting that they hadn't been worked well for 20 years. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 91 Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Jan 2018)

The 2016 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Aux Chezeaux includes more whole-bunch fruit than the Aux Charmes at 70%. It has a well-defined bouquet of blackberry and sage, later a touch of brine. The aromatics feel quite complex and develop more and more delineation as it opens up. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, just a touch of reduction here but good depth with a little more sweetness and comeliness than the Aux Charmes. This is a well-crafted Morey-Saint-Denis from Virgile. Drinking range: 2021 - 2036 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Dec 2017)