Sylvain Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Champs-Gains” ROUGE 2019
About the wine:
• Appellation: AOC Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
• Encépagement: Pinot Noir (100%)
In The Vineyard:
• Parcel Names, Slopes, and Locations: From .17 ha (4 ou- vrées) of vines in the Champs Gains lieu-dit, just south of the village of Chassagne
• Soil Types and Compositions: Limestone-clay
• Vine Age, Training, and Density: Trained in Cordon de Royat and planted in 1949 at 10,000 vines/ha
• Average Yields: 45-50 hl/ha
• Average Harvest Date and Type: Manual harvest, early-mid September
In The Cellar:
• Fermentation: After 50% destemming and a 1-2 day cold soak, wine ferments spontaneously in stainless-steel tanks. Cu- vaison lasts c. 3 weeks.
• Pressing: Pneumatic pressing
• Time on Lees: Wine remains on its lees until assemblage prior to bottling
• Malolactic Fermentation: Spontaneous, in barrel in the spring
• Élevage: 20 months in 350-l and 228-l oak barrels (35% new) followed by 2 months in stainless-steel tanks
• Press Wine: Blended after pressing
• Fining and Filtration: Fined with Casein and unfiltered
• Sulfur: Applied at harvest, during élevage, and at bottling, 20-25 mg/l free
In The Glass:
Planted by Sylvain's grandfather Albert Morey, this is the last plot in the Champs Gains planted to Pinot Noir, along with the piece belonging to Sylvain's sister Caroline. A Premier Cru that used to be planted almost entirely in red, this last vestige gives wines of balance, concentration, and a somewhat Côte-de-Nuits- like intensity.
Hailing from a tiny .16-hectacre parcel, the Champs Gains Rouge a big step up from his basic Chassagne. It is quite dense with chewy fresh cherry fruit, lively acidity, and a firm tannic backbone. About 20 cases a year are available for the US market.
About 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.