Domaine Lignier-Michelot Vieilles Vignes, Morey-St-Denis
The fruit for this vieilles vignes (old vines) blend is sourced from three Morey-Saint-Denis lieux-dits. Half the fruit comes from Les Cognées and quarter from each of Très Girard and Les Chenevery, all on the eastern side of Morey-St-Denis. The old vines have been planted in 1946, 1948, 1950s and 1980s. The wine is made with about three-quarters whole bunch and a short duration of cold maceration and fermented with indigenous yeasts. After that, the wine is aged for a year in oak 30% new oak barrels.
The 2016 Morey St Denis Vieilles Vignes, which includes 70% whole bunch, has a taut and linear bouquet with dark fruit, blackberry and bilberry, hints of soy and autumn leaves (from the whole bunch component). The palate is fresh on the entry, the tannins a touch softer than the La Rue de Vergy, quite focused with blackberry, graphite and sous bois notes toward the finish that becomes spicier with aeration. Very fine.
(91-93) points, Wine Advocate (December 2017)
(from Très Girard, Les Cognées and the village portion of Les Chenevery; 80% vendange entier): Healthy medium red. Aromas of dark raspberry, redcurrant, mocha and spices, plus a whiff of chocolate. Plush, silky wine with fresh flavors of crushed red berries complicated by a leathery nuance. Showing more tannins than the Rue de Vergy but this is also impressively horizontal on the back end. The yield here was a full 48 hectoliters per hectare.
90 points, Vinous (January 2018)
Quite rich and sweet. Perhaps not the most refined but delivers masses of pleasure. Could do with just slightly more pace to be typical Morey but go for it if you want ripe fruit and balance. Just slightly falls away on the end. Mulberry fruit.
16.5 points, JancisRobinson.com (September 2018)
Sitting between Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny, this little appellation can sometimes get a little lost in between. Although, not because of their quality - the wines are a perfect bridge between Gevrey-Chambertin (for structure and tannins) and Chambolle-Musigny (with elegance and velvetiness).
The appellation contains 4 main Grand Crus (5 if you include a small portion of Bonnes Mares which it shares with Chambolle-Musigny) including the Clos de la Roche.
The wines of Morey-Saint-Denis join the soft delicacy of Chambolle, its neighbor to the south, with the power and structure of Gevrey Chambertin, to the north. They are rather deeply coloured, with a powerful bouquet of small red and black fruits (pin cherry, blackcurrant). The crus of Morey-Saint-Denis are more complex, with woodsy, spicy, and animal aromas. They are full bodied and fleshy, often with a very long finish.
