Caroline Morey Beaune 1er Cru ‘Grèves’ Blanc 2023

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Caroline Morey

Caroline Morey comes from  a long line of vignerons based in the Cotes de Beaune and is also married to Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey. In 2014 Caroline has taken her share of some family vineyards from her father Jean-Marc and has created her own domaine based in Chassagne-Montrachet working out of brand new cellars built for Caroline and her husband Pierre-Yves.

For Caroline’s first vintage in 2014 she had small holdings in Chassagne-Montrachet for both red and white together with small holdings in Santenay and Hautes Cotes de Beaune totaling just 2.4 hectares. With more vineyards added both from family and from acquisitions in the last few years the total is now 7 hectares for Caroline. Her family holdings were roughly half for red wines and half for white wines, so Caroline has always been very comfortable vinifying red wines and is clearly adept with whites as well. For her own estate her holdings are about 35% Pinot Noir and 65% Chardonnay.

Caroline’s approach in the cellar shows a similar light touch as her husband using mostly 350 litre barrels with no more than 30% new and with no battonage for the white wines. For the red wines she adapts to each site and each vintage with no ‘recipe’ as such save to say that Caroline favours a little whole bunch when possible but never more than 50% which she considers too much. Now settled into the new cellars and with 5 vintages released it is clear that Caroline has moved straight into the premier tier of producers in the Cote de Beaune as she has rapidly established her very small and very fine estate. With just a few barrels produced of most wines these will be difficult to come by.

In the Vineyard

In the Winery

Hand harvest and natural yeast ferment of whole bunches for all whites and 25% to 40% whole bunches for red wines. Ageing mostly in 350 litre barrels with no lees stirring of up 14 months for red wines and up to 18 months for top whites. Very gentle pumping over and handling for red wines designed to maximise freshness and finesse. Long untreated corks for all wines and bottles sealed with wax

The 2023 Vintage at Caroline Morey

Caroline Morey, wife of Pierre-Yves Colin (see above), was away at the time of my appointment but their son Clément, who also works at the domaine, described the 2023 growing season as “one that was quite hot, if not broiling, but with enough rain to largely avoid hydric stress. There wasn’t much disease pressure and we had no climatic incidents in either Chassagne or St. Aubin. A heat wave though in the second half of August sent maturities skyrocketing so we scrambled together a picking team and began on the 24th of August. The chardonnay was very clean and yields were excellent at between 50 to 55 hl/ha. Even though we started the harvest relatively early, potential alcohols were still strong as they ranged from 12.5 to 13.5% with average acidities. For us, the challenge was to cool down the musts as quickly as possible so they would ferment normally. We did a very long but soft pressing as we wanted to minimize the extraction of potassium from the skins and seeds. Even with our efforts to control the temperatures, both the primary and secondary fermentations finished quickly. We did zero bâtonnage (lees stirring) as we felt as though the wines already had enough flesh and richness. The wines have continued to improve during the élevage and we’re in no hurry to bottle them.” The younger Colin again noted that everything was aged in in 350L barrels and that the wines will be bottled unfined and unfiltered using natural cork and between 45 and 50 ppm of free SO2. Lastly, and as I noted last year in case anyone missed it, Marc Colin, father of Pierre-Yves, made his final vineyard distributions so the domaine is the exceptionally lucky recipient of a tiny parcel of 267 square meters of Montrachet. Depending on the vintage, this should make around 150 bottles annually. Clément further noted that the wines will be bottled without fining or filtration. I would add that the Colin-Morey team has crafted an excellent set of wines in 2023 and, most unusually for any domaine, every wine is recommended.

Allen Meadows, Burghound

Where in the World is Caroline Morey ?

Caroline Morey is based in Chassagne-Montrachet alongside husband Pierre-Yves. The wine comes from Beaune, Burgundy, France.