2023 Morey St Denis Les Millandes

The 2023 Morey-Saint-Denis Les Millandes 1er Cru comes from 70-year-old vines. Vinified with 50% whole bunch, it has a finely delineated marine- influenced bouquet with touches of seaweed that tincture the black fruit. The palate is fleshy, bold and medium-bodied with saturated tannins. I am missing just a bit of Pinoté on the finish when juxtaposed against the preceding Gevrey Premier Cru, therefore I will be prudent with my score. It's a bit heady. Heresztyn-Mazzini is an estate that I have visited regularly for a decade now. They might not be one of Gevrey’s “superstars,” but they have been producing excellent wine for several years. Underlying their success is a cluster of choice holdings, biodynamic vineyard husbandry and an attention to detail in the winery, where I find assiduous use of whole clusters. Their 2023s may well be the finest set of releases so far, perhaps better than the 2022s. “We did a green harvest in July for two weeks. There was a lot of rain that month, so we used silica when it was dry, which helped with the structure of the wine. I had never seen such a precocious vintage. Picking began on September 7 and the average yield was around 35 hl/ha.”

The 2023 Morey-Saint-Denis Les Millandes 1er Cru comes from 70-year-old vines. Vinified with 50% whole bunch, it has a finely delineated marine-influenced bouquet with touches of seaweed that tincture the black fruit. The palate is fleshy, bold and medium-bodied with saturated tannins. I am missing just a bit of Pinoté on the finish when juxtaposed against the preceding Gevrey Premier Cru, therefore I will be prudent with my score. It's a bit heady.