2011 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru

I was deeply impressed with the wines I tasted with Thomas Morey this year. Morey has progressively moved his domaine towards biodynamic farming, but is refreshingly candid in talking about the challenges of the vineyards face in adapting to the transition. Morey reports that the fruit in 2011 was healthy, but that the vineyards struggled to adapt to the new farming methods. In 2011 yields were around 48-50 hectoliters per hectare, which is on the higher end of normal and more generous than either 2010 or 2012, a vintage in which the challenges of the growing season forced Morey to farm his vineyards according to the principles of lutte raisonée rather than strict biodynamics. Alcohols came in around 12.5 to 13%, and a few wines require a slight chaptalization. Morey planned to return to biodynamic farming in 2013, but the weather has presented more than its share of challenges this year, so it will be interesting to see how things ultimately turn out. In 2011 Morey has several new cuvees from rented parcels in Macherelles and Clos St. Jean.

Thomas Morey told me he doesn't yet know "where to place" the 2011 vintage.He believes that the wines will be "easy and pleasant" and will give pleasure relatively young.Although yields were in the 50 to 52 hectoliters-per-hectare range, there was not a lot of juice in the grapes as copper treatments against powdery mildew during the summer had the effect of toughening the grape skins.With more solid matter in the must, Morey did a longer-than-usual debourbage.The 2011s had been racked at the beginning of April.By the way, Morey noted that following the frost of 2010, a good bit of village-level pinot noir in Chassagne-Montrachet was replanted to chardonnay.