As someone who drinks top-flight white Burgundy as often as possible, I’d struggle to suggest any bottle that can match the grandeur, unfathomable depth, and inimitable terroir character of today’s wine without the jarring price tag of a neighboring Grand Cru. When SommSelect received word a few years ago that Jean-Marc Morey would be retiring soon, we immediately began hoarding his top wines from recent top vintages. So far, nothing equals today’s monumental 2014 “Les Chenevottes.”
It’s one of the rare opportunities to experience the magic of Burgundy’s great masters without the brutal three-figure Grand Cru buy-in. That’s not to say this wine isn’t sourced from one of the region’s most revered slices of real estate: Premier Cru “Les Chenevottes” is
next to the Grand Crus of Le Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet—the grandest Chardonnay sites in the world. Burgundy collectors treasure “Les Chenevottes” for producing deeply powerful, broad-shouldered Chassagne-Montrachet and today’s 2014 (one of my favorite recent white Burgundy vintages) is a pitch-perfect expression of the site. While this regal, powerful, and perfectly proportioned white is peaking today (and will remain in this optimal state for another 5-7 years!), I regret to share that this is also the last chance to acquire a few bottles!
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*PLEASE NOTE: Due to scarcity, this wine is only available on pre-arrival and will be shipping from our warehouse the week of April 22nd.]
As Burgundy lovers are aware, the ‘Morey’ surname is well-dispersed in the Côte de Beaune. Jean-Marc Morey is the son of Albert Morey, one of the earliest producers in Chassagne to bottle his own wines. When Albert retired in 1981, he split up his vineyard holdings between his two sons, Jean-Marc and Bernard, who took the somewhat unusual step of keeping vineyard parcels whole (rather than each having half of every one). Jean-Marc ended up with an excellent array of sites, including pieces of the great Chassagne Premier Crus “Les Caillerets,” “Champs Gains,” “Chaumées,” and “Les Chenevottes.” Overall, his holdings encompass nine hectares, most of them in Chassagne-Montrachet but extending to Santenay, Saint-Aubin, and Beaune as well. Now, Jean-Marc Morey is widely recognized as one of the great masters of Chassagne-Montrachet, maintaining a beautifully antique style that recalls the finest white Burgundies of yesteryear.
As I’ve noted before, 2014 is an extremely generous, yet balanced, white wine vintage in Burgundy, and this bottling from “Les Chenevottes”—sourced from Morey’s tiny, .22-hectare plot of 30+-year-old vines—is a luxurious, lip-smacking wine with layers of concentrated flavor. Fruit is hand harvested, then taken directly from press into barrel. There are no synthetic yeasts or enzymes, no shiny stainless steel tanks, and no elaborate temperature control systems—just mother nature and the constant chill of Jean-Marc’s cellar slowly working its magic. Morey is known for working very traditionally in both the vineyards and cellar, and favors relatively short maturation times in wood for his white wines. He never uses more than 25% new barrels for aging, which typically lasts just under a year before bottling.
Since I last pulled the cork on Jean-Marc Morey’s 2014 “Les Chenevottes” about a year ago, it has only grown more expressive and powerful. Time has done little to quiet the herculean intensity and seductive pear/yellow apple fruit that blossoms on the palate with each sip. On top of this foundation of succulent fruit, there’s an impressive interplay between deep, stony minerality and more subtle hazelnut/sweet cream notes that coat the tongue. These secondary and tertiary qualities appear to be inching closer to center stage with each passing year, but for now, this 2014 remains an extremely luxurious, powerful, and deeply fruit-driven wine. Like all Jean-Marc Morey whites, including Bâtard-Montrachets and other Chassagne Montrachet 1er Crus we’ve offered in the past, this wine benefits from a brief, 30-minute rest in a decanter. Please serve at 55-60 degrees in large Burgundy stems alongside equivalently powerful cuisine. I savored my most recent bottle in between bites an improvised, but no less outstanding meal of Iberico jamon-wrapped sea scallops of saffron-garlic-chive whipped potatoes—and believe it or not, the following day the wine showed even better despite the less appropriate pairing of vegan Indian takeout. As with any truly elite wine from a historic producer like Morey, one never struggles to find a flattering context!
