Jumping ahead of myself but ‘inspired’ by Bill’s recent excellent photos, here’s 3 taken on the morning of taking my sad leave of Morey-St-Denis. Taken over the wall from Arlaud’s entrance for the first 2, and from the wall at the top of the car park for the bar/boulangerie, these were taken about 7.30 a.m. as the sun came up over the eastern horizon. The orange glow infused the walls of the village in a lovely way.
Enjoy !
Friday. The last day of (almost) sun in the côtes – it was a little misty, but dry. I can’t ever remember walking through the vines in September in ‘normal’ shoes – the ground was so dry. Lots of work was being done replacing old/dead vines and even a bit of ploughing here and there before the rain that was forecast for the weekend.
The pictures that follow are mainly from around and in the Clos St.Jean (1er) in Chassagne-Montrachet. It’s not every autumn that the chardonnay and pinot vines are so well delineated in the vineyard – and yes, the red ones are the pinot!
The evening was a mini-paulée of sorts. This week saw the conclusion of the harvest for the home team – yes even grapes were harvested! A parcel of Hautes Côtes was picked on Monday – the grapes were nothing special but will make a very good rosé – as some vignerons would say, they were still too good for Cremant! The majority of the harvest team (stageurs) were still at the domaine so a dinner seemed appropriate! Two whites; a 2003 Jomain Puligny Perrières was a surprising smooth and interesting aperitif – far from ideal acidity but in a very nice shape – followed by a lovely 2007 Javilier Meursault Clos du Cromin. The reds were a world tour; The previously tasted (here) Donatsch 2008 ‘Passion’, a Californian (non-pinot) whose name I forget, a South African (Danie de Wet) Nature in Concert Pinot and finally a 1990 Lafarge Beaune 1er Grèves. See – we were quite modest 😉
Musical backdrop to the 2010 vintage: Citizen Cope – thanks Amy!
Got home finally about midday Tuesday UK time having left my Dover Premier Travel Inn around 5 a.m. Arrived there early last evening tres fatigue from the Calais time 4.10 p.m. ferry which I made by dint of getting my foot down more than I’d have liked and no stop for lunch having left Nuits at around 9 a.m. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed, or felt I needed, a bath so much in my life !!!
Pre my Cote departure and in a dark, rainly, back street Nuits butcher’s I did a double take & saw Etienne Grivot at the counter buying his meat !! Popped into the shop & introduced myself having only met him briefly at London January en primeur tastings before from which I’m sure he wont have remembered me – he must have thought ‘who the hell is this crazy Englishman’ ? He cautiously advised his vendange had been good.
Am cream crackered like never before after this vendange – it was sooo tough.
I’ve unpacked and am about to download my photos. Will try and write up a limited diary as I’ve hardly any notes and a dodgy memory but hope to add some amusements. Think this was my best drinking vendange of my 4 – we drank some nifty stuff – mine, Dubreuil-Fontaine’s and Arlauds. I attended the full Arlaud paulee this year, camera kept intact, cracking ‘do’, much fun had by all with dancing to circa 3 a.m from an 8.30 evening start but boy, oh boy, oh boy did I have a mal de (du ?) tete the following day and when Alex Gambal made me a thick dark black coffee it was all I could do to keep it down !!!
We finished Saturday lunchtime in a plot of Bourgogne Rouge below the ’74 between Morey and Chambolle – more like below Chambolle. Finishing Saturday meant my free day being a Sunday was less than ideal but I got in a visit to the aforementioned AG [ thought I’d better get some of that 2008 Bourgogne Blanc Bill raves about], from where I called into see Ray Walker (nice guy, lovely rented cellar, and wines being made in garagiste style !), and then spent the afternoon wandering Morey to Gevrey and familiarising myself with the Gevrey vineyards (or some of them) which I’ve never done along with photos.
You were right about Ponsot – I talked to what seemed their vineyard organiser (balding guy) on the Sunday afternoon when they were in what I think was Latricieres, no, must have been Chapelle from looking at Coates, and visualising were they were along from Clos St Denis / Clos de la Roche on the opposite down side of the road. They were out there again, or similar, on the increasingly wet Monday first thing as I drove away, with below them someone else – possibly Faiveley – as the only two outfits to have left things so late.
Only had a quick squint at Bill’s diary entries so far but reckon I’m happy to agree, meaning from my own free thoughts before / without being influenced by that (!) – reds wise CdN think this could be pretty good. Certainly Cyprien and Romain Arlaud are pretty happy to say the least.
More to follow including a reference to Raquel Welch (Welsh ?) – tres bizarre !
Mark de Morey
An update from the home team
Chambertin was harvested late on Friday 1st and Charmes-Chambertin on the 2nd October. Those grapes continued along the theme of healthy millerandes, and even a ‘positive selection’ of 10% whole clusters was used for the Charmes.
The fermentations have, so far, been really slow. One Volnay cuvée and the Ladoix cuvée have almost finished their fermentations, the others are being roused by some gentle warming of the tanks.
The only concern right now is that some of the tannins seem to have an aggressive edge to them – but they are expected to improve as the maceration continues but care will need to be taken with the extractions.
Still waiting for pics – no pics, no toilet seat 😉
What is in tank looks good, potentially even great. The only cloud is the quantity. Yields are tiny. 25hl/ha in the Morey red. Ouch.
Jeremy Seysses
I read that the Morey domaines of Dujac and L&A Lignier have completed their harvests today – Jeremy Seysses bemoans the fact that he only ended up with 25hl/ha for his villages Morey, though no quality complaints – actually a little white Monts-Luisants is still to be picked on Friday by Dujac.
At the home domaine there were no new grapes, just the last of the Santenay from Wednesday to finish which was triaged in the morning – the grapes are fine at 6°C overnight! The last grapes to be brought in will be Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin and some Hautes-Côtes. Maybe tomorrow or maybe Saturday – let’s see.
The first fermentations have started; the grapes from the new contract for villages Volnay were ‘innoculated’ via the addition of a little must from a tank that was already fermenting – ‘the boss’ deciding that despite clean-tasting juices, he didn’t want to hang around waiting. Also the white (Meursault) that was brought in before I arrived has started to ferment.
This was a very busy – but dry – day for the home team.
Grapes from Maranges, Santenay villages, Vosne-Romanée and finally Corton Clos du Roi. Maranges and Vosne were in great shape (photos later) the Corton Clos du Roi and Santenay needed more triage. The Corton had a similar amount of botrytis to the Ladoix and the grapes could perhaps have been picked a day or two earlier – but we generally hold on because of the tannins. The Santenay needed green and rotten fruit removing.
It’s worth noting that maximum triage this year (reds!) is still only in the region of 6-7% the average being much lower; only 05 and 09 have been better in the last 7 vintages.
Short but sweet – more info tomorrow.
(in absentia as I had to come home to do something less manual!)
The last thing I did before I left yesterday was to taste through some of the different cuvées. Of-course it’s only fruit juice right now, and with so much sugar the pH of 3.2 means nothing! Still the colours seem to be extracting nicely and the flavours are very clean indeed – interesting that of the two (vinified separately) Volnay villages cuvées, one seemed more powerful, the other to have more complexity. Despite one needing more triage they both seem spotlessly clean – in the end I guess it’s just down to how much you have to throw away!
Today was a dry day in the Côtes. The home team brought in Marsannay and Gevrey. The Marsannay from the southern part of Les Longerois had lots of millerandes and was quite clean – a little botrytis, but only 100kg was thrown away from 3 tonnes of grapes. The Gevrey was a mix of older and younger vines; the young vines had more botrytis in the bunches than the older ones, but again significantly less to triage than either 2007 or 2008.
I await more info on toilet seats and photographic evidence of some decent grapes – I’ll update this when I have it.
The previous evening was leftovers again, but this time supplemented with 2004 Puligny and 2002 Fourrier Gevrey Clos St.Jacques. The white had a very obvious 2004 character, the red was elegance personified – no fireworks but understated complexity.
Today and it’s raining – not too heavy, but wet all the same. We have no grapes today; the Beaune Avaux and Corton Rognets was advanced and the Gevrey and Vosne were put back to tomorrow. Chambertin won’t be harvested until the end of the week. So in the morning I chatted with a couple of very similar vignerons (well, same village!) David Clark and Laurent Ponsot in Morey. I asked Laurent how his harvest was shaping up and he flashed a big smile and said “what harvest, we wont begin anything in Morey for at least a week!“. Acually he was going to be getting some first grapes from Corton soon, but even in the cold and damp he was very confident that photosynthesis would continue and that his grapes would improve. David Clark was also in good shape, looking to start his harvest on Tuesday or Wednesday, so-far nothing had been cut.
Back to Beaune in time for lunch; avocado with home-made mayonnaise, pork with cauliflower cheese, cheese and then floating islands for dessert. Wines to accompany were JN Gagnard 2006 Chassagne 1er Boudriotte, a 1996 Giroud Côte de Beaune, a 2007 David Duband Morey 1er Clos Sorbé and lastly one of my 1991 Saviour Club Chapelle-Chambertins (or Chapelles-Chambertin as the cork was stamped). The Gagnard had good balance a very sneaky, oak driven, creamy mid-palate though perhaps need a bit more intensity, the Giroud was relatively sweet and drinkable despite the acid at its base, the Duband had a sweet oaky, almost confected note and finally the Chapelle was a treat!
Quote of the week overheard during lunch “I don’t think I can survive a second week without a toilet seat!!“. Far from being an initiation ceremony for non-French stageurs, it turns out the original was broken, and nobody had got around to buying a replacement. Various consultations ensued as to whether particular ‘outlines’ would be beneficial for the person delegated to make the purchase!
It’s Sunday, and surprise, surprise, it’s not raining.
The previous evening we had a lovely soup (sorry chef it was better with a pinch of salt!) and the quenelles with a lobstery sauce – one of our antipodean colleagues decribed them as ‘French dumplings’ – a great call methinks! To drink was a 2008 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Dublère ‘Cuvée Millerandes‘ – very nice, indeed powerful, the acidity not quite seamless in the finish, but this was way above standard bourgogne level. For a bit of fun we tried the ‘cooking wine’ next; a Camille Giroud 1996 Monthélie – actually it was drinkable, blind you might think it smelled Italian as it spent so much time in oak. The last one was André Cathiard 1989 Vosne Les Suchots – all strawberry fruit, ginger and lace – a bit shorter than it could have been -probably some of its years had been spent ‘too warm’, but still a wine to contemplate.
Back to today. The pickers have been out early again and by 9:00am everything set to triage some Ladoix. We have to slow the table down a little as we need to weed out the unripe and some rot – I’d say it’s about a 2006 to 2008 level of rot (and the average of 2006 and 2008 is not 2007 before somebody says it!) After about 2 hours we’re strainght into Savigny 1er Les Peuillets and despite also having to watch for under-ripe bunches and rot, it’s on a much lower level than the Ladoix – lovely grapes, almost with the cleanlines of 2009 but perhaps some of the berries are swollen because of the rain. Interestingly a few of our red friend with black spots on their wings could be found in the triaged material for throwing away – I never saw one in the triage table or in the winery though…
Lunch! The eggy-salad played havoc with the first wine, my first pinot noir from British Columbia (actually my first wine of any kind from BC!). Great label design; a bear carrying a gramaphone talking to a ‘maiden’ – I had to explain to the previously referenced antipodean that the bear was holding an earlier version of the iPod. Anyway the 2007 Foxtrot Okanagan Valley smelled great, and once we moved onto the coq-au-vin it was a nicely composed, well balanced drink. Following was Méo-Camuzet’s 93 Corton Rognets. My first one of these was lovely but the last one was compromised and cloudy – this was the same. Drinkable – even good – there was nothing particularly amiss with the nose and we finished it no problem.
The weather was so good – we were even enjoying sunshine – that the pickers were called to do duty in Beaune 1er Les Avaux, and then Corton Rognets. The Beaune was quite a mix; relively clean but the average berry size was bigger than the Savigny. The last grapes from Corton Rognets were stunners, triaging alone I bet I had to pull out no more than 10kg from two pallet-loads of fruit. Tiny berries, beautifully blue-black in colour. The skins tasted to have some tannin, so we chickened out of whole cluster despite optically having grapes of 2005 quality. And there we are – now it’s 7:30pm and time to start the big clean-up!
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