Getting Your Head Around Burgundy Part 9.2 – The Village of Morey-Saint-Denis


Discover what makes the village and wines of Morey-Saint-Denis unique!

Next in our tour of the Côte de Nuits is the village of Morey-Saint-Denis.

In this series, we’re covering as many of the main villages of Burgundy, home to some of the world’s greatest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Make sure you join our community to get the latest articles from the Wine Bites Mag as they come out. You’ll find all of our Burgundy related articles here.

There’s a quick refresher on the regions of Burgundy at the end of this post to help you place yourself within Burgundy and France as a whole.

See all of our wines from Morey-Saint-Denis

The Villages of Morey-Saint-Denis

Located at the heart of Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis forms a bridge, between the wines of Gevrey-Chambertin to the north and those of Chambolle-Musigny to the south. Most of the appellation’s vineyards are planted with Pinot Noir grapes, producing wines that are typically full-bodied, structured and complex. However, a few parcels are planted with Chardonnay or Pinot Blanc varieties, yielding a rare and interesting white wine, generally quite firm and opulent.

The vineyards of Morey-Saint-Denis transition from the valley flats to 270m in altitude on the slopes. The region also has a diversity of terroirs – from pebbly, limestone rich soils in the north and south to more alluvial, clay soils in the mid-region. Watch Jean-Pierre Renard’s video below for an in-depth look at the geography, geology and climatic conditions of Morey-Saint-Denis.

With many well-regarded Premiers Crus, Morey-Saint-Denis boasts also 5 Grands Crus: Clos de Tart, Bonnes Mares, Clos de la Roche, Clos Saint-Denis, Clos des Lambrays.

Much like surrounding appellations, Morey-Saint-Denis is returning to a more holistic approach to winegrowing with a number of producer promoting biodiversity and organic viticulture. Learn more about the intricacies of this sub-region with Laurent Lignier.

Jacque Seysses explores his life and experience in Burgundy, and at his Domaine in Morey-Saint-Denis.


In the video below we explored the 3 adjacent villages Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis & Gevrey-Chambertin tasting through wines from each Village.

UPDATE December 2017: The Charmes-Chambertin tasted in the video has started to settle and my initial concerns around ripeness are well and truly a distant memory! Unfortunately, it’s all sold out!

Detailed Map of Morey-Saint-Denis

Click on to enlarge 🔎

The Regions of Burgundy

The best bit of Burgundy is a thin strip running from North to South around 50km in length, to the South East of Paris

It’s split into three main regions, within each of these regions there are villages which have specific single vineyards planted in them to the varieties red varieties: Pinot Noir and Gamay, and the white varieties: Chardonnay and Aligoté, a lesser variety that produces some fun wines at more affordable prices.

The three main regions in the strip South of Dijon are:

  1. Côte D’Or – meaning the Golden Slope, derived from it’s original name, Côte d’Orient, East Slope, within which rest:
    1. Côte-de-Nuits – South of the city of Dijon and North of the town of Beaune famous for it’s Pinot Noir. The best known villages are: Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée. 5% of Burgundy production including Chablis.
    2. Côte-du-Beaune – The area around and South of Beaune famous for Chardonnay including the 5 Grand Cru vineyards and many very good Pinot producing vineyards. The best known villages are: Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Mersault, Volnay, Pommard and Saint Aubin. 10% of production including Chablis.
  2. Côte-Chalonaise – Mixing more affordable Chardonnay and Pinot that can be of excellent quality. The villages of Rully, Mercurey and Givry producing their best wines.
  3. Mâconnaise – The least regarded of the main regions, still capable of producing some very good wines. Becoming a shining light for value with the ever increasing prices of Burgundy.

In addition to these, the two regions of Beaujolais, mostly producing Gamay, (at the South end of the Dijon Strip) and Chablis, mostly producing Chardonnay (between the southern part of Champagne and Dijon) are part of the Bourgogne wine region.

Click to view full sized map

 

Start the discussion