MOREY SAINT DENIS

2018 1er Cru Les Loups Domaine des Lambrays

EN PRIMEUR

A blend of Riotte, Sorbé and Village, which are all on the same level, below the middle of the village. There are only ten barrels. A touch of reduction gives it a hardness which will go - nice and ripe and good intensity and length.L&S (Nov 2019)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

(from a .70 ha total of the 1ers La Riotte, Clos Sorbé and Le Villages plus a small proportion of young vines Clos des Lambrays; 50% whole cluster). This is even more firmly reduced and unreadable in its present condition. More interesting are the sleek and finer but not necessarily denser medium weight flavors that also possess a lovely texture, all wrapped in a clean and firm finish where the supporting tannins are less refined than usual. Drinking range: 2028 - Rating: 89-92 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2020)

Aromas of cassis, sweet berry fruit, violets, spices and creamy new oak introduce the 2018 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Loups, a medium to full-bodied, lively wine, built around fine-grained tannins and lively acids, and concluding with a delicately oak-inflected finish. Rating: 90-92 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Jan 2020)

The 2018 Morey-Saint-Denis Les Loups 1er Cru is raised in 40% new oak with 50% whole bunch. For me, the whole-bunch element just comes across a little too prominently on the nose and slightly occludes the fruit profile. The palate is medium-bodied with a peppery opening, good depth and fine acidity, though again, I would have snipped off a few more stems so that they do not dictate so much. Let’s see how this shows in bottle. Drinking range: 2021 - 2027 Rating: 89-91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2020)

Three lieux-dits: La Riotte, Les Sorbès, Le Village. 50% whole bunch and 40% new oak. Below the grands crus, so lower than the village vineyards. More soil and warmer. Always picked earlier. Tank sample. Riper and richer and a little darker fruited than the village Morey. Capiteux (heady), suggests technical director Jacques Devauges. But still with Morey scent and peppery notes. Firmer texture but flows across the palate. Definitely more fruit sweetness and generosity but no lack of freshness. So approachable. Lovely smooth yet dry finish. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 17 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Dec 2019)

The 'Clos' consists of 8.66 hectares of land enclosed by a wall in which there is the original milestone marking its founding in 1365, confirmed in the records of the Abbaye de Citeaux (those monks knew where to place a vineyard). The Clos owes much of its current fame to the nineteenth and twentieth century proprietors who reconstituted it after the fragmentation of ownership which followed the French revolution. Despite always having been considered a Grand Cru site, the Clos was in fact classified Premier Cru in the original 1936 appellations contrôlées.

The Rodier family which owned it from the 1930s fought to regain its Grand cru status, with eventual success only in 1981, when it became the last of the thirty-three Grands Crus of Burgundy, although by then it had passed to the Saier family. Recently under the benign ownership of the Günther Freund and his family, who gave a very free hand to régisseur Thierry Brouin, who had been employed by their predecessor Rolland Pelletier de Chambure, the quality of the wines here has pushed up again. In 2014 it was bought by the LVMH group.

It has been all rather quick change here as Jacques Devauge has taken over here after a short interregnum under Boris Champy. The legacy of Thierry Brouin can still be felt, Jacques decribing him as having been 'clairvoyant' in his approach to the domaine, which has set it up well to deal with challenges of warmer vintages. Jacques seems set to take this estate onward - 'every domaine has to challenge itself to do better', he says. 2019 marks the second year being fully organic - if all goes well they will be certified after another two.

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