Sure, Chassagne-Montrachet is synonymous with white wine—like many winemaking villages in Burgundy, its most famous vineyard site is officially affixed to its name—and there’s about twice as much Chardonnay as Pinot Noir planted in Chassagne. But, they nevertheless grow side-by-side here; there are about 100 hectares of Pinot Noir vineyards in Chassagne, compared to fewer than 20 in Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault combined. And, as the vineyards of the Corton hill more famously demonstrate, it’s not as if the Côte de Beaune terroir is not well-suited to both varieties. The “Les Chaumes” vineyard is near the base of the Chassagne-Montrachet slope, toward the southern end of the village, with the clay-and-limestone mix that characterizes the whole of Burgundy.

 

If you look around, in fact, you’ll see plenty of noteworthy names on bottles of red Chassagne—Ramonet, Hubert Lamy, Guy Amiot—and Morey-Coffinet was created from the union of two other well-known families. In the late 1970s, Michel Morey (son of Marc), founded the estate with vineyards inherited by himself and his wife, Fabienne (of the well-known Pillot family). Today, Michel and his son, Thibault, oversee about 8 hectares of vineyards, the overwhelming majority of which are in Chassagne, including most of the top Premier Crus and the Grand Cru Bâtard-Montrachet. Thibault has converted the domaine’s farming to Ecocert-certified organic and biodynamic, which shows in the purity and energy in the wines. Overall, their production is about 70% white, but there are several bottlings of Chassagne Rouge—“Les Chaumes” has proved to be a well-rounded, earlier-drinking red with great perfume and deep cherry fruit. It is an extremely pretty style, though in 2015 it boasts a little extra weight, with a pleasingly sappy fruit component balanced by bright acidity.

 

In the glass, the 2014 “Les Chaumes” is a brilliant ruby-red moving to magenta at the rim, with an extremely inviting nose loaded with fresh, ripe notes of red and black cherry, wild strawberry, and cranberry mixed with wet rose petals and forest floor/underbrushy quality. The minerality and tannin is subtle and fine-grained, and the fruit generous—it should age nicely over the short term, about 5 years, but it is quite approachable now. Decant it about a half hour before serving in Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees. Medium-bodied, with a subtle smokiness, this would be fantastic with some grilled salmon, prepared simply as in the attached recipe. This wine has got everything you could ask for in serious red Burgundy, without the serious red Burgundy price. It’s got ‘house red’ written all over it!