VIEW from the CELLAR by John Gilman
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VIEW FROM THE CELLAR By John Gilman March-April 2018 Number Seventy-Four The Marquis de Laguiche and Maison Joseph Drouhin- A Perfect Marriage. A Vertical Report On the Beautiful Marquis de Laguiche Chassagne “Morgeot”. (pages 1-8) The Exceptional 2016ers From Weingut Johann Joseph Prüm in Wehlen. (pages 9-15) Maison Louis Roederer- Champagne’s Most-Forward Thinking Grande Marque. (pages 16-49) Round Two Of the Superb 2016 Burgundy Vintage. (pages 50-128) Domaine Coche-Dury’s Iconic Bottling of Corton-Charlemagne. (pages 129-136) Coming Attractions The Brilliant and Often Overlooked Grand Crus of Latricières-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin. A Vertical Report on Moët et Chandon’s Cuvée Dom Pérignon. Ric Forman’s Iconic Winemaking Career- Charting the Course For California Greatness From Stony Hill to Sterling, Newton and Forman Vineyards. Unsung Greatness In the Heart of Pommard- Louis Boillot’s les Croix Noires. A Spring Visit To A Few Of My Favorite Beaujolais Domaines. New Releases and Recently-Tasted Spanish Wines- Part One. Klaus-Peter Keller’s G-Max, The Annual Loire Valley Report, Anselme Selosse, Château Pichon-Lalande, Marcel Juge Cornas, The Hill of Corton, The 2017 German Vintage, Champagne Bruno Paillard, Château Ausone, Old School American Wines, Nicole Chanrion, Château Montrose, Special Club Champagne, Aged Muscadet, Clape Cornas, Mature Loire Reds, The 2001 Bordeaux Vintage, Recently-Tasted Alsace Wines, Chambertin and Clos de Bèze, Bodegas Riojanas, François Bertheau and the 1928 and 1982 Bordeaux Vintages Today. View From the Cellar is published bi-monthly by John Gilman, who is solely responsible for its content. Electronic subscriptions are available for $120 per year ($220 for two years), available at www.viewfromthecellar.com. I nquiries may also be emailed to [email protected]. Copyright 2018 by John B. Gilman, all rights reserved. Content may be utilized by members of the wine trade and/or media as long as either View From the Cellar or John Gilman are fully credited. Please do not share. Joseph Drouhin’s Exceptional Marquis de Laguiche Chassagne-Montrachet “Morgeot” The association of Maison Joseph Drouhin and the Marquis de Laguiche goes back to the closing years of the Second World War, and the Drouhin and Laguiche families have worked closely together ever since those eventful days of the mid-1940s. The Drouhin family and the Marquis de Laguiche first teamed up to produce wines together in the 1943 vintage. But, when Maurice Drouhin was forced into hiding in 1944, after the Nazis came to arrest him for a second time during the war and his having to make a midnight escape through the cellars under the domaine (eventually finding his way to the Hospices de Beaune, where he was hid for the duration of the war), the two families did not start to work together again until the 1947 vintage. The Drouhins have produced two exceptional wines from the Laguiche family vineyard holdings ever since then, with the most famous being their Montrachet “Marquis de Laguiche”. The Laguiche family is the single largest owner of vineyard land in the great grand cru of Montrachet, owning just over two hectares (which have been in the Laguiche family since 1361), with all of their vines situated on the Puligny side of this great grand cru vineyard. Less well known, but equally superb year in and year out, is the Marquis de Laguiche bottling of Chassagne-Montrachet “Morgeot” that the Drouhins have also produced from the beginning of their association with the Laguiche family. This beautiful and very elegant rendition of Morgeot is produced from 2.26 hectares of vines in this large premier cru (it is actually a grouping of several different premier crus that can all be marketed under the better-known name of Morgeot), with the Laguiche vines situated in two parcels: les Grands Clos and les Vignes Blanches, both 1 of which lie in the absolute heart of the larger constellation of Morgeot. The ownership of these two parcels of Morgeot that the Laguiche family holds today also stretch far back into the past, as amazingly, they have owned these vineyards as well since 1361, which gives some idea of just how highly prized this part of Morgeot has been down through the centuries! In the spring of this year, I met with Véronique Drouhin-Boss in the family’s offices in the heart of Beaune to taste through a range of the Marquis de Laguiche Morgeot bottlings, as I have been a very big fan of this supremely elegant cuvée since I first had a chance to drink the wine in my early merchant days. The first vintage of Burgundy I ever sold as a young wine merchant was the 1985 vintage, and by luck or divine intervention, I had the good fortune to offer the 1985 Chassagne-Montrachet bottling from the Marquis de Laguiche in that first commercial vintage of my career. 1985 was certainly a pretty good vintage to start with in Burgundy, and perhaps my lifelong love affair with the wines of the Côte d’Or might have evolved differently if I had not been blessed with starting out with this beautiful vintage, which excelled for both red and white wines. The Laguiche bottling from Chassagne was labeled differently back in those days, as it was not then designated as hailing from Morgeot and was simply labeled as Chassagne-Montrachet “Marquis de Laguiche”. It was not until several years later that I first learned that the wine was actually from two of the finest vineyards in the larger cru of Morgeot, and in those early days I used to marvel at just how beautiful the wine was, given that I thought it was a villages level bottling! It was not until the 2007 vintage that the Drouhin and Laguiche families decided to start putting the premier cru designation of Morgeot on the label, so it is only ten years since the wine has been labeled as hailing from Morgeot. The premier cru of Morgeot is one of the anomalies in the Appellation Contrôlée system in Burgundy, as there are actually more than a dozen different lieux à dits here than can be sold as Morgeot. There are several other examples of this practice that can be found up and down the Côte d’Or and in Chablis, as for example, there are at least a half dozen different lieux à dits that are considered part of the grand cru of Clos de la Roche in Morey St. Denis. All of these smaller vineyards in the greater Morgeot are ranked as premier crus and a vigneron with a parcel of vines in one may sell the wine under either the name of that particular lieu à dit or under the name of Morgeot. This practice dates back to the centuries prior to the adoption of the AOC system in the 1930s, as the custom over time was for the wines from many of these other small vineyards to be sold under the better-known name of Morgeot prior to the regulations, and they were “grandfathered” in with the ability to still sell the wine under the name of Morgeot after the official classification was codified. However, there is a lieu à dit here that is actually named Morgeot, which is the absolute filet section of the greater vineyard and sits in the middle of the slope and gives its name to the expanded AOC of Morgeot. The Laguiche parcels of vines lie in two surrounding lieux à dits that abut this original Morgeot, with les Vignes Blanches lying contiguous on the slope with Morgeot proper, just to the north of the vineyard, and les Grands Clos found immediately above Morgeot on the slope. For hundreds of years, this has been considered the core white wine sector of the greater Morgeot, with the finest examples of the premier cru blanc hailing from these lieux à dits. The Drouhin family’s Marquis de Laguiche bottling of Morgeot is probably one of the very finest and most elegant expressions one can find of this large premier cru, which due to the variations of terroir from one side of the combined vineyard to the other, not to mention up and 2 down the slope, can vary quite a bit stylistically from domaine to domaine. Cuvées of Morgeot blanc in general can have a reputation as a slightly four-square example of Chassagne, without the cut and limestone mineral drive found in premier crus in the commune such as Caillerets, Virondot, la Romanée and Grands Ruchottes, and this can certainly be the case with some bottlings, as much of the terroir here has a fairly high clay content and is probably better-suited to pinot noir than it is to chardonnay. In fact, along with the premier cru of Clos St. Jean, certain sectors of the greater Morgeot are indeed the finest parcels for red wines in all of Chassagne- Montrachet, and it is only the market preference for Chassagne-Montrachet white wines today that finds these lieux à dits planted to chardonnay at all. For example, Alexandre Moreau’s superb red Chassagne premier cru bottling of “la Cardeuse” hails from the far southern end of the greater Morgeot (close to the Santenay border), though Alex prefers to label the wine with the proper name of the lieu à dit, rather than as Morgeot rouge. But, he is fortunate to also have a fine parcel of vines in the best white wine sector of Morgeot, so there is no temptation to plant his plot in la Cardeuse to chardonnay. However, with many other producers, one can certainly understand if a vigneron decides to plant his parcel to chardonnay, no matter where in the greater Morgeot his parcel may lie and even if the terroir is better-suited for pinot noir, as Morgeot blanc sells for a higher price than Morgeot rouge today and is far more in demand by thirsty clients.