Tasted in Chassagne-Montrachet, with Sabine Mollard, 07 October 2020.

Domaine Marc Morey Fils
3 Rue Charles Paquelin
21190 Chassagne-Montrachet
Tel: +33 3 80 21 30 11
www.domaine-marc-morey.fr

Sabine on 2020:
“The way 2020 started kept me quite happy; The period around March-April was agreeable, allowing us to start our treatments in perfect conditions. Following a fine flowering, the sortie of grapes was super – we expected a big harvest. It was certainly warm afterwards but we experienced no problems. In July & August we had no rain at all. A very early harvest – we’ve harvested in August before but never finished in August as this year. The degrees were good, the results were better than we expected – we lost some volume, though in the end not too much, we still had a lot of bunches it was just that we had not a lot of juice in those bunches. So far, we have lower alcohols and better acidity than in the most recent vintages – we don’t have the impression of a hot vintage, we still waited 90-95 days from the flowering to the harvesting, not 80 or less. I have the feeling that the vines are slowly adapting to the change of weather – 2003 was something of a shock for the vines – not just us. But we have the impression of more balance each year that it’s hot.”

Sabine on 2019:
“We began harvesting 6 September – almost classic! Another hot year, we had a little oïdium to deal with at the end of the season – a lower harvest volume – mainly due to the dryness but the flowering wasn’t in good weather so it was clear already quite early that we’d have less. ”

The wine…

As every year, this remains an underestimated address for excellent wine – the Virondot, as always, worth a special purchase!

All sealed with natural cork:

2019 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Some négoce from Hautes Côtes to go with domaine vines in Chassagne. This bottled just before 2020 harvesting
A depth of aroma – narrow but with freshness up top. A little richness of flavour but here is a perfect balance for the label – this is very lovely… Excellent Bourgogne

2019 Chassagne-Montrachet
Also bottled – three parcels; Lombards, Pierre and Blanchots and a little declassified 1er.
This nose has width and perhaps a suggestion of sulfur. The similar richness to the Bourgogne but very good and balancing freshness. Holding an extra line of finishing flavour versus the Bourgogne. Lovely wine.

2019 St.Aubin 1er Le Charmois
Also bottled
Vibrant and freshly citrus nose – the best yet! Open, nice shape, less of the modest richness of the previous two wines, here with a melting flavour – mouth-wateringly delicious and completely excellent.

2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Chenevottes
Also bottled
An extra depth and aromatic width – a faint herb is mixed in the complexity here. More open again – more mouth-filling – if that last wine was ready, here the structure suggests a short bout of patience. But here is detail, depth of flavour and very tasty wine – particularly good finishing!

The following all tank samples:

2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Vergers
‘There’s nothing more to do with it before bottling January-February – we’ve no reason to rush’
More compact but attractive all the same with some citrus depth. Ooh – that’s super in the mouth – extra energy, very nice definition, and mouth-watering with flavour – almost juicily so. Excellent.

2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Vergers
‘From Ez Crottes, we have red just below…’
Similarly compact but slowly adding a citrus width. Bright, mineral and fresh. Ooh, there’s lots and lots of flavour energy – it needs a little time but here’s a clear step up in tasty complexity.

2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets
Vines right next to the village in vigne derrière. ‘Chenevottes is always good but Caillerets it depends – we got a good one in 17 though!’
More intense and actually quite vibrant too. More composed in the mouth but more concentrated too. Intense, mouth-watering in the finish but here’s a wine that needs to open and become more expressive – there’s no questioning the concentration.

Sabine thinks the fining will make a big difference in terms of readiness.

2019 Puligny-Montrechet 1er Pucelles
A bigger nose with a small touch of reduction. Mouth-filling – there’s impressive scale here – concentration too – but more accessible today than the Caillerets if not quite to the level of the Virondot. This also needs a little time to become more expressive but everything is here for an excellent wine.