1996 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru

Winemaker Thierry Brouin believes the '97s have gained considerably from levage which he feels has rounded the tannins. "There nothing hard about these wines," notes Brouin. "They will be drinkable within a few years." At the time of my November visit, bottling was projected for January, a good four months earlier than the '96s were bottled. Very little sugar or acid adjustment was needed in '97. ("There was actually far more surmaturite and considerably higher grape sugars, at the end of the '98 harvest," notes Brouin. "Our fruit in 1998 went from 11.9% to 13.4% in six days.") Techniques in '97 included a severe trie less pigeage and a shorter cuvaison.

1996 displays "more cepage than terroir " says Thierry Brouin, who continues to direct winemaking under the new owners, the Freund family of Germany. "We typically get more terroir from years of low production, like 1995 and 1993." Due to the large size of the '96 crop (41 h/h, vs. 30 the previous year), Brouin destemmed 20% of the fruit, then did lots of pigeage The wines were racked last March and April, and will be racked again prior to bottling in March and April of '98, a bit earlier than the '95s were bottled. I get a singular animal/vegetal/mineral complexity from Clos des Lambrays that I think of as characteristic of Morey-Saint-Denis; indeed, Brouin maintains that this vineyard is the most typical manifestion of the village grand cru sites.