Tasted in Meursault with Anne Morey, 14 October 2015.

Domaine Pierre Morey / Morey-Blanc
13 Rue Pierre Mouchoux
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 21 03
www.morey-meursault.fr

Pierre Morey is now retired so daughter, Anne is at the helm of this 11 hectare family domaine.

Anne’s father, Pierre, began in 1971 with some modest vines inherited from his father Auguste, but also some metayage contracts for vines under rent – notably from the ‘Comtes Lafon’ family. These latter vines were to be returned to the Lafons once there leases expired, as Dominique Lafon had decided to make wine himself. Fortunately for Pierre, at roughly the same time he also took on the role of winemaker for Domaine Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet – not bad for a boy from Meursault! Indeed, for a long time, Pierre was probably better known for his role at Leflaive than for the domaine of his own name. During this period he also built up new contracts to replace those lost to Lafon, to be sold, since 1992, under the Morey-Blanc SA label – (Christiane) Blanc is his wife’s maiden-name.

Pierre’s vines were farmed organically since 1993 and under biodynamics since 1998 – he was clearly a firm believer in the results at Leflaive.

Anne Morey on 2015:
Magnifique! A really nice harvest with what looks like very good quality in both colours – after all the difficult recent years it was a pleasure to remember what great grapes look like. It was an early harvest, with great cleanliness and fine maturity of fruit. Still not very high yields but an improvement for sure. The parcels hailed three times, even the whites, only delivered about 20 hl/ha – probably due to the heat and dryness after the hail, an accumulation of difficulties for the vines – it was still difficult to train the vines in winter. The reds have lots of colour to start with, let’s see if they still have after the malo. The wines have just about finished fermentation. Let’s see.

Anne Morey on 2014:
Very different conditions. A later harvest by about 15 days. The vines were simply fantastic until the hail – we averaged a 50% loss in 2014 perhaps a little more – Tessons was over 80%. Beforehand, the vines really hadn’t show much effect from the previous years’ hail, everything started perfectly. Without hail we would have seen a bumper crop – quality and quantity. Certainly it was less good after, but fortunately the weather was okay afterwards and the vineyards managed to regain a good health. The damaged grapes dried and fell without rot but the maturing of the vines was blocked 8-12 days. But came back well. When I compared the vegetation in different vineyards, I think that our biodynamics helped their recovery – some others needed 3 weeks for leaf growth to restart. I find the wines light – but that’s as a compliment, as they are so easy to enjoy. I’m not sure the structure is behind but the energy and flavour are certainly there – a fine difference between the crus though, and nothing exaggerated. If I compare to recent vintages, 2012 has more acid but is not so expressive. 2013 is a more acid-led vintage. 2014 seems similar to 2007, airy, almost chiseled with some vibration of acidity – maybe not a vintage that will last and last, but…

Anne Morey on 2014 pricing:
I’ve not yet decided on prices. Still want to be sure what the volume of 2015s is. Prices have gone up for the last year and there is the question of acceptance.

The wines…

Chardonnay was racked in July/August and then returned to mainly barrel for the second winter.

2014 Bourgogny Aligoté
Already in bottle. Multiple parcels all from around meursault – just like all their regionals. Here the vines average 50 years-old.
Wide on the nose with good freshness – a deep herby aroma. Fresh, lithe, herby again, citrus-infused flavour. A fine aperitif – perhaps more. Some agrumes flavour too as it grows in the mouth.

2014 St.Aubin 1er Cru – Morey–Blanc
Vibrant nose, a faintly textured blend of fruit and herb. More weight and certainly more concentration. Again a nice citrus acidity here.

2014 Meursault
3 parcels, 2 from high and one from below Charmes. ‘All were kept separate for first part of elevage then tasted at racking time – if the assembly tastes good its done, if not I wait and keep them separate.’
The nose isn’t as powerful as the St.Aubin but is nicely Meursault in character, and with some good depth too. Lithe a hint of muscle, fine acidity and a good line of flavour here. Nicely mouth-watering – very good villages. Really a lovely reprise of citrus fruit in the long finish too.

2014 Bâtard-Montrachet
Not touched by hail – like the aligoté.
Deep, less wide but with a textured weight of aroma. Growing from the core is almost a spire/peak of fresher citrus. Round, a leading edge with a hint of salinity – modest impact but with layers and layers of flavour – contemplative but without a lack of freshness or blanace. Here is exactly the charm of 2014…

2009 Meursault-Perrieres
‘Opened as not much is available for 2014. 2009s really have the material to mature well, the terroir is starting to come through, at first you only tasted the vintage.’
Becomes more complex in the glass – super. A reduction that is slowly fading, revealing layers of aroma. A weight, but a direct mineral weight, with lovely sleek line and fine silky texture. Very long – such a baby – yum…

And a red to finish…

2014 Monthelie
All destemmed. This was racked 3 weeks ago and is now in tank waiting to be bottled.
A really beautiful nose. High and low tones. Floral with a weight of perfume. 8 parcels and 5 lieu-dits. Really good volume in the mouth, fine flavour, a little minerality, and a little ripple of tannin in the mid-palate, then freshly finishing.