Tasted with Mee Godard in Morgon Le Haut, 09 February 2018.

Domaine Mee Godard
Morgon Le Haut
69910 Villié-Morgon
Tel: +33 6 66 47 00 64
www.meegodard.com

Mee on 2017:
“If 2016 was complicated in the Spring, then the Spring of 2017 was perfect, and was followed by fine flowering. Then boom! The hail.

“And then when there were no leaves we had the drought followed by some sun-burn! When all things are considered, the quality of the grapes at the harvest was not bad at all! But there were 60% less of them. Actually, I was quite happy when I saw the grapes, I thought it looked not too bad volume, but then when we pressed – pff – there wasn’t as much juice as I had expected. I can see some small damage to the wood, but I don’t think it’s going to affect the pruning – it didn’t last year, anyway. Yields were about 35 hl/ha in 2016 so better than in 2017 where I had (roughly) between 25 and 40% losses, depending on the parcel.”

Mee on 2016:
“Well, in the spring of 2016 I was convinced that there would be no wine, as it had rained so long and so often – the work in the vines was really non-stop! Finally the weather was good and at the harvest I think just about everyone was surprised that the quality was so good. I was hailed twice in Courcelettes – I aim for 40 hectolitres per hectare and got 33 hl/ha, so approaching 20% down which isn’t bad considering we had hail on the 27 May and 24 June – maybe it wasn’t the greatest vintage for me to start in bio!

“It was quite an early bottling for all the wines – towards the end of August. I really didn’t want to lost the fine fruit that I could see, and I didn’t think that there was anything to gain from waiting.”

The wines…

Mee was crowned the ‘Young Talent’ of the year 2017 in Beaujolais, based on her 2015s. The 2016s are aromatically tighter than either the 2014s or 2015 (today!). They are a range of fresh but relatively structured wines – on the positive side there is fabulous clarity but on the other hand you will need some patience to enjoy it. But patience will be rewarded – wait pretty much 3 years for most I would guess..

2016 Morgon Corcelette
It was only here where there was hail – just anecdotic in Cote du Py
A fine width of aroma, some depth, tighter above. Ooh much more reward in the mouth – some roundness and very fine, inviting red fruit followed by a direct and fresh line that guides you to the finish. A little saline complexity here. Wait 6-12 months (minimum) but this will be a lovely bottle.

2016 Morgon Grand Cras
Wider again, but still compact above and below. Ooh, silkier, more depth of flavour – a little velvet tannin and some rigour of structure but really there is more dimension of flavour alround here. Patience – but this will be super.

2016 Morgon Côte de Py
Less overt volume of aroma but a fine purity of fruit at the core of this nose. Round, supple, structured but really with a lovely width of mobile, changing flavour – mouth-watering, melting flavour – yes! Of-course to wait for but really this has both concentration and a more accommodating style to the previous wines. Excellent!

2016 Morgon Passerelle 577
This the number of Mee’s mysterious parcel selection on schist and blue stone in Côte du Py. Only wood elevage with some new oak – a mix of foudres, demi-muids and barrels but looking to mark the wine the minimum possible. Here is 21 months of elevage, 18 in barrel. (It’s about 6 months less for the other cuvées)
Also not the most open nose but a beautiful depth of finely defined fruit flavor. Supple, a mix of roundness but also plenty of fresh direction. Layered in the finish – just an anecdote of tannin here. Really a fine finishing width of flavour. Tighter though than the Côte du Py.