Sylvain Morey "Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge" Burgundy, France 2022

FROM ROSENTHAL:

THE WINE: 100% Pinot Noir. Sylvain’s wines demonstrate with resounding force the greatness of Chassagne-Montrachet as a red-wine terroir. This breathtaking villages-level rouge comprises old selection-massale Pinot Noir from La Bressonne (0.5-ha planted in 1956), Les Lombardes, (0.25-ha. in 1967), and Les Chambres (0.2-ha. from 1974). Sylvain retains 30% whole clusters for the vinification, which lasts 3 weeks; he employs pump-overs rather than punch-downs, preferring a thorough, slow, gentle extraction that preserves lift. Chassagne’s unabashed soil-driven nature shines through clearly but elegantly in this wine; one would have to spend much more in the Côte de Nuits to find something even approaching it! 75 cases imported.

THE PRODUCER: Two of the hallmarks of Burgundy are the minuscule size and the fractured distribution of the small domains that line the Cote d'Or. Centuries of division by inheritance and often family discord have fractured once-larger land holdings into microscopic parcels. Domains have become so small (and their fractured holding so atomic) that it is has become doubtful how these domains can continue to be passed down to the next generation. In the case of Domaine Sylvain Morey, this difficult tradition continues with the dissolution of Domaine Jean-Marc Morey. Jean-Marc's son Sylvain and his sister Caroline split their father's holdings in 2014, making this already small family domaine much smaller. (Domaine Jean-Marc Morey was founded in 1981 when Domaine Albert Morey was split between his two sons Jean-Marc and Bernard.) We feel fortunate to continue our relationship with these familiar family parcels, however small they may be, through the impressive and thoughtful work of Sylvain.