Arlaud, Taupenot-Merme, Dujac F+P
It sometimes gets overlooked in favour of more famous neighbours Gevrey and Chambolle, but what an injustice! The village of Morey-St-Denis is home to some of our favourite growers, and the spice and sandalwood character that can emerge in its wines as they mature is utterly seductive…
Cyprien Arlaud had a big smile on his face when we visited in November - he feels vindicated. As he sees it, the benefits of being organic for 20 years and fully biodynamic for the last 10 really paid off in 2018; his vines have become more resilient than most. Not only did they manage the heat spikes of the vintage well, they produced joyfully sweet fruit that kept its natural freshness. At Taupenot-Merme, we tasted a range of beautiful, complex wines, and had the sense of a domaine at the top of its game; Romain and his sister Virginie have overseen an era of absolutely soaring quality here. The domaine has some very fine plots across 19 Burgundian appellations from the relatively humble to the sublime, and vine stock that averages 40 years old, but in some cases is much older.
Also headquartered in Morey is Dujac. Their Fils-et-Pere line is from the négociant arm of their business, and the wines are characterised by Dujac elegance and intensity. As at Arlaud, the Dujacs favour using a proportion of grape stems in their fermentations, which shows in the fresh, silky tannins and black cherry and milk chocolate character of the wines. By contrast, Romain Taupenot insists he is a philosophical follower of the late, great Henri Jayer and prefers to destem everything. He argues that this brings a purer fruit character. Whichever side of the debate you fall on, these are all splendid wines. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Winter 2020/21
