Monday, November 16, 2009

Morgon, Morgon, Morgon

When friends called to say I should stop by on Friday night because they'd opened a couple of interesting bottles of Morgon, I figured the least I could do was add a third to the mix. After a wee glass of the Crémant de Loire "Brut Sauvage" NV from Château des Vaults (Domaine du Closel) to whet the whistle, we started off with my contribution to the trio.

Morgon (Lot S), Marcel Lapierre 2007
$22. 12.5% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA.
Marcel Lapierre makes three lots of his regular Morgon each year, in roughly equal thirds: one that sees no filtration or addition of sulfur, one that is unfiltered but does get a petite dose of sulfur, and a third that is both lightly filtered and sulfured. Lapierre's US importer, Kermit Lynch, will not bring completely unsulfured wines into the States, so "Lot S," if I'm not mistaken, is the unfiltered, lightly sulfured bottling. The lot designation appears on the wine's back label, along with a date (02/05/08 or 2 May 2008, in this case) that I assume signifies the bottling date, a bit of information I'd love to see on all wine labels.



I wasn't in the mood to take photos, so I'm glad Brooklynguy had already taken care of it for this one; I've borrowed his picture of the 2006 version (thanks, Neil). I really like Lapierre's presentation; I'm not sure there's a better example out there of elegant simplicity in labeling.

Firm and tensile but delicate, very pure, direct and focused, this is pretty, pretty wine. Lithe, with an unmistakably natural aromatic and flavor profile. The nose is creamy and fresh, giving up vanilla-laced small red berry fruit. One of my partners in crime had complained of encountering bottles earlier in the year that were showing green and olive-y (and I see that B-guy has found some volatile acidity issues). No such problems here, as this bottle was just lovely. Served with a slight chill, I could drink it all day.

Morgon Côte du Py "Cuvée Spéciale Fût de Chêne," Domaine Savoye (Descombes-Savoye) 2005
$18. 12.5% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Fruit of the Vines, Long Island City, NY.
The "Cuvée Spéciale Fût de Chêne" is Pierre Savoye's vin de garde, bottled after spending 6-8 months in oak foudres and capable of aging, in the producer's own words, from 8-10 years. Opened the day before, this was a little worse for wear but was nonetheless still showing remnants of its breed. Completely pinotisé, dark-fruited and subtly spicy, even a bit prune-y, with brooding, slightly briary tannins. I think this could indeed develop for a few more years in the bottle. But once opened, drink up.

Morgon "Vieilles Vignes," Daniel Bouland 2008
$22. 13% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA.
In spite of having been open for a day, Bouland's Morgon, which hails from 60-90 year-old vines in the climats of Corcelette, Douby and Delys, was showing by far the most primary of our three wines. Still painfully young, which isn't surprising given the wine's youth, though I found it to be showing well relative to many other '08s I've tasted of late that are tight, lean, chalky and/or unexpressive at this point in their evolutions. Very good fruit expression, with lots of ripe red cherry and cola nuance, bolstered by a zippy, juicy mouthfeel.

* * *
And for your listening pleasure today, the Joe Zawinul classic (the correct title is Mercy x 3) as performed by the Buddy Rich Big Band in Berlin, 1970.

7 comments:

TWG said...

I think Ms. Bowman has also noted some issues with acidity (carbonic) in the Cote de Puy from Foillard see http://winedisorder.com/comment/56/2339/?all=true#32812

David McDuff said...

Hmmm, sounds more like an issue with pungency than acidity.

Joe Manekin said...

Had no idea Couly Dutheil was that big! Wow. That's rougly the size of Seghesio, for a stateside comparison.

I love Mercy x 3 (original and assorted covers) but this one just wasn't doing it for me. Admittedly I have a bias towards smaller groups for this tune, I think. But the modulation of key, just in sections, was a bit weird and off putting here, I think. Still an interesting listen, though. Thanks for sharing.

David McDuff said...

Joe,
I generally prefer a smaller group format as well. Perhaps I didn't dig deep enough but I couldn't find any live performances from Zawinul or Cannonball Adderley, which would have been my preferences, and I don't like to use those YouTube clips where someone has simply recorded the song from LP/CD and set it to a slide show.

Agreed, the Buddy Rich performance isn't one of the best renditions of the tune. But the intro, with Rich dripping sweat all over the stage, brought a smile to my face. Besides, I preferred it to using one of the many versions out there from artists with whom I have no sense of connection. There you have it....

Dr. Vino said...

Hi David,

We poured the Lapierre Morgon 07 from magnum for turkey day last year. Great stuff. (No VA.) Everyone loved it.

Cru Beaujolais in magnum also makes an impressive gift and, generally, doesn't break the bank!

Cheers,

Tyler

David McDuff said...

Hey Tyler,
It's always good to know I'm not the only one who's had a good bottle (not that I thought that might be the case). I do wish I had space in my cellar for magnums as I'd love to keep Cru Beaujolais, Muscadet, Chinon and some goodies from the Jura in large format... and that's just for starters.

Something tells me there'll be some Cru Beaujo in my turkey day lineup this year. I'm thinking Foillard but we'll see what happens.

Kenny Galloway said...

Brut Sauvage ?! ... GREAT CHOICE ! But we have so much more to offer ... howz 'bout our Clos du Papillon the next time around ?

Cheers !

Domaine du Closel
http://www.facebook.com/domaineduclosel

Blog Widget by LinkWithin