I’ve always kept close tabs on Morey-St-Denis, and, when I was at long last introduced to the elusive wines of Domaine Taupenot-Merme earlier this month, I felt my search was complete. Already the village has witnessed an unprecedented growth of quality that few other appellations can match, but with Taupenot-Merme thrown into the mix, you’re looking at the top-tier of fine, unadulterated Red Burgundy.
Excited as I was to try this producer, I had my reservations at first, as many 2015 Burgundies can be over-extracted. The ’15s are generous, yes, but I find they can be stripped (in many cases) of expressiveness and sense of place. But my misgivings quickly subsided upon tasting this wine. This is serious Burgundy with intense perfume, a seamless core of perfect ripeness, and finesse. In fact, I’m inclined to dub it the best village-level offering this year; it certainly is the best young Morey-St-Denis I’ve tasted in years and it has a long life ahead of it. Taste it, and you will quickly understand my enthusiasm.
In Burgundy, it can be easy to rest on your laurels and let your pedigree or wine label “justify” the price, but producers like Romain Taupenot see it differently. Romain’s wine may not have a flashy name, but his dizzying number of small, organic parcels are of chief importance. His limited 13 hectares of vines are spread out over a whopping 19 appellations and as you know, terroir is everything here in Burgundy. This diverse and prestigious array of holdings produces wines of unique character, but only because of his minimal intervention philosophy. To him, even the greatest terroirs can be ruined if too many hands and are involved. In an
interview with his importer, Romain has this to say about today’s world of wine compared to his hands-off approach: “There have been key developments and innovations in the areas of viticulture and winemaking in the last few decades, making it possible to produce great wines that I dare say are rather technical, more standardized, and somewhat deprived of their racy authenticity…To have the winemaker’s style rest in the shadow of the expression of terroir—this is the Grail quest.”
Although founded in 1963 after the union of Jean Taupenot and Denise Merme, winemaking in the Taupenot family can be traced back to the early 1700s—even later for the Merme side. At the behest of his father, Romain was beckoned back to head the domaine in 1998 after working in Finance for a decade—although he made sure to never miss harvest. Taking the lessons he learned throughout his childhood and beyond, Romain preserved some philosophies and principles while improving on areas he felt were lacking. A prime example was the conversion to organic viticulture in three short years (although he has not sought certification). They also had two wineries at the time, which he quickly merged to channel all his focus and passion into one place.
The parcel for his Morey-Saint-Denis village wine is just shy of one acre which makes tending to the 30+-year-old vines a feasible task. The small plot is farmed organically and all grapes are harvested by hand. In the winery, natural fermentation occurs via ambient yeasts and the wine undergoes a gentle upbringing so as to create the purest expression of fruit. The wine ages on its lees for 12-14 months in French oak (~25% new) and racking is avoided in order to leave it completely undisturbed. Afterwards, the wine is gently transferred into steel tanks for an additional three months. The wine is then bottled without fining or filtration.
The ‘15 shows a superb level of concentration in the glass. At its core, the wine displays a deep and dark ruby core with slight pink and light garnet hues highlighting the rim. The nose is simply stunning, displaying notes of ripe wild strawberry, black cherry, and wild raspberry, followed by wild mushroom, damp forest, wild herbs, red flowers, and a mix of baking spice. The palate reveals a generous medium-plus body and the softly layered fruit creates a silky mouthfeel. It finishes delicate and smooth with goji berry and fresh cherry at the forefront of an earth-spice interplay. Simply put, it’s one of my favorite glasses of wine in recent memory and it will continue to impress for many years ahead; it certainly has the structure to age. As pleasurable as it is now, I see this wine hitting full stride around its fifth or sixth birthday and keeping much longer than that. Enjoy in large Burgundy stems around 60 degrees and complement the ripe and fresh fruit with a classic beef bourguignon or do a little extra searching for this braised rabbit dish. Whichever you choose, bon appétit!
