Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy

18 Feb 2021: Roll over Clos St-Jacques? Not necessarily, but in terms of value for money, Les Cazetiers is a strong contender for providing exceptional quality at a more-or-less fair price. The next door vineyard has a multitude of different plots, with a variety of different soil types – yet somehow the mineral class of Cazetiers shows through, whatever the style. I will take us through what lies...

19 Jan 2021: Olivier wanted to feature the 2018 vintage including his new parcels in Clos de France, Côte Rôtie and En Crêches to introduce these wines and this was also the year that his two sons joined him at the Estate and interesting to now bring in the next generation. With the 2020 harvest behind him, Olivier is keen to talk of the challenges to come: “The virus has changed many things – the...

4 Feb 2021: The leading candidate for promotion to grand cru in Pommard is Les Rugiens, the deepest and richest wine that Pommard can offer. The whole appellation is on an upswing, benefitting from global warming and the arrival of fresh blood in the village. Does the vineyard merit promotion? We can decide after tasting these six wines from some of the best known protagonists. Wine Samples: 2016...

11 Feb 2021: Are you a Puligny person or a Meursault fan? Hang on, what about Chassagne? The appellation is sometimes criticised because there is too much red wine territory which has been set to producing chardonnay, but the best parts of the village can make magical wines. I have chosen six of the finest producers of the village covering terroirs that compete with the best. Will vineyard or vign...

12 Nov 2020: Just how important is vine age in Burgundy? Producers like to wax lyrical about their Vieilles Vignes and the received wisdom is that old vines make for more concentrated wines. We will test thus out with 6 beautiful Burgundies all made from vines planted before the Second World War, so at least 89 years old. Wine Samples:  2015 Jean-Philippe Fichet, Meursault Les Gruyaches, Cote de B...

17 Nov 2020: Dr Lavalle, author of a celebrated book about the Côte d’Or published in 1855, classified certain vineyards as Tete de Cuvée. Some of these were then and remain now very famous (Chambertin, Musigny, Romanée-Conti) but others have slipped somewhat out of the limelight. This tasting unites six vineyards up and down the Côte which Dr Lavalle rated as tete de Cuvée. Should we take them mo...

26 Nov 2020: Following up from the success of our events looking at Bonnes Mares and Chambertin Clos de Bèze, we extend the illumination of individual grands crus to Grands Echezeaux. Will we find more similarity with the rest of Echezeaux, or with close neighbours Clos de Vougeot and Musigny? Samples available for this event will include the 2009 vintage from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Wine Sam...

14 Jan 2021: Camille Giroud has tiny vineyard holdings in Beaune; otherwise relying on contracts from as far afield as Marsannay and Maranges, with particular strengths in Corton and the Gevrey Chambertin vineyards. The quality of winemaking is consistent and very much in the modern, quality-oriented genre, although the practice of very gentle oak treatment and little racking continues, so that ea...

8 Oct 2020: The most powerful of the Beaujolais crus and the most age-worthy is surely Moulin-à-Vent, a wine which can seem positively Burgundian as it ages. It has also caught the eye of various Côte d’Or producers in recent times, with many choosing to bottle different vineyards within the cru. This tasting will display the authority of top class single vineyard Moulin-à-Vent through the eyes an...

13 Oct 2020: The second in our grand cru series features Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze, sibling or perhaps consort of Chambertin itself. This wine was so brilliantly described by Evelyn Waugh (Brideshead Revisited), as serene and triumphant! The line-up covers six of the seven most significant owners of Clos-de-Bèze from the promising 2012 vintage. Wine Samples of Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru: 2012...

27 Oct 2020: Why should we let the Montrachets, Meursault, Volnay and Pommard get all the glory? There are three delightful villages set in the valleys behind the main Côte which are delivering steadily more exciting wines as these cooler, formerly sometimes marginal, locations have been warming up. These days there is more flesh on the bones of the whites and reds of St-Romain and Auxey-Duresses,...

4 Nov 2020: Bonnes Mares –  one of the great grand crus of Burgundy, fascinating and just a touch schizophrenic: does it belong in Chambolle-Musigny or Morey-St-Denis? Do we prefer the brown soil or the white soil renditions? Discover all with this great line-up from the top producers: Wine Samples: 2014 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes-Mares, Grand Cru 2014 Domaine G. Roumier Bonnes-Mares 20...

31 Aug 2020: 2010 has proven to be an unsuspected star for the red wines of Burgundy. It did not feel like a great vintage at the time, overshadowed by the sunshine of 2009, but opinions started to improve when we tasted the wines in barrel, and now 2010 is established as one of the success stories of the new century. Wine Samples: 2010 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2010 D...

9 Sep 2020: This unusual vineyard in Chambolle-Musigny should not be overlooked. It is the only lieu-dit in all of Burgundy which has four classifications from generic to grand cru (as part of Musigny). We have topped and tailed the tasting to bring two excellent village examples and all four of the wines which are regularly made at 1er Cru level. Wine Samples: 2009 Domaine Anne Gros, Chambolle-Mu...

19 Sep 2020: Question: Where to go in Burgundy for fine quality at fair prices? Answer: to the very best producers of the Côte Chalonnaise. I have chosen six of my personal favourite producers who leap out of the ordinary, as viewed through the prism of the deliciously accessible 2017 vintage. Two whites and four reds will help us to explore this often overlooked region. Wine Samples: 2017 Domaine...

30 Sep 2020: The first in our series looking at individual grand crus in detail, will focus on Romanée-St-Vivant, the quintessential vineyard capable of displaying the hallmark of Vosne-Romanée, as shown through the lens of a variety of top class winemakers. Take a look at the line-up, tune in and taste with relish these six great wines spanning three of the finest vintages since the turn of the c...

13 August 2020: Time to take a good look at the very best of Morey St Denis. Two wines from Clos de la Roche will face two from Clos St Denis: will producer or terroir lead the way? The two grand crus are intertwined but typically show quite different characters. Just as fascinating is the rivalry between Clos de Tart and Clos des Lambrays. For all these, I will be evaluating what role the winemak...

20 August 2020: If ever there was a misunderstood appellation in Burgundy, it must be Corton. So much wine classified as Grand Cru, so many different styles. Much of it is very good wine, not all of it deserves to be Grand Cru. But if you study the appellation in detail, you will find the wine to suit you, and often at very fair pricing. You will not be disappointed if you tune in to this mastercl...

24 August 2020: Once in a while a vintage comes along which stands out just that little bit more. It is not always so obvious for white Burgundy, but a clear favourite for the vintage of the last decade in white must be: 2014! Modest (plus) in red but magical in white, 2014 has already provided much enjoyment, and the best whites have much more still to offer. Wine Samples: 2014 Domaine de Montill...

27 August 2020: Pay attention at the back – Aligoté is coming to town! No longer the grape relegated to receiving a slug of crème de cassis to make a vin blanc Kir, Aligoté has taken the wine world by storm in the last two years. The younger generation of vignerons have started to produce some truly exciting wines, and not just from Aligoté’s own appellation, Bouzeron, but throughout the region. I...

13 July 2020: Meursault may not have any grands crus to its name, but this favourite white Burgundy village is chock full of star producers. In this webinar, I led us through a line-up that covers the three finest 1ers crus and a magical array of the finest producers inside and outside the village. Wine Samples: 2010 Domaine Coche-Dury, Meursault 2014 Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Meursault, ‘Clos de...

23 July 2020: Whenever the question is asked: Which 1er Cru vineyards in Burgundy might be promoted to Grand Cru? Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St-Jacques is always cited among the very first names due for promotion. What makes it even more intriguing is that there are just 5 producers, and their holdings all run up and down the slope parallel to each other. It is rare to be able to sample all five from...

30 July 2020: I lead us through each of the different Montrachet grands crus, each with its own character as decided by its place on the slope and what is going on below the ground. We delve into the detail of vintage and vigneron distinctions to complete this overview of White Burgundy’s finest hillside. The session is rounded out by a taste of one of the great vintages of Bonneau du Martray’s Co...

6 August 2020: The most dynamic white wine appellation in Burgundy at the moment is Pouilly-Fuissé. There has been a surge in the number of top flight producers at work, perhaps encouraged by the up-coming classification of 1ers crus. I take us through the characteristics of the different villages, which make up the appellation, outline which vineyards are about to be ranked 1er cru and illustrate...

“To kick off 2021, we dive right into the fascinating, frustrating, compelling wine world that is Burgundy. Iconic – certainly. Over-priced? Plausibly. At great risk from climate change? Undoubtedly. We explore these issues and more across two special episodes – and in this first part we quiz our fellow Master of Wine and renowned Burgundy expert, Jasper Morris, as well as buyer Rebecca Palmer fro...