2012 Morey St Denis En la Rue de Vergy

Good medium red. Sexy aromas of game, iron, animal fur and fresh blood. Sweet, pliant and fine-grained, with musky strawberry and iron flavors offering immediate appeal. Finishes with smooth tannins and nice length.

The 2012 Morey-Saint-Denis En La Rue de Vergy is all about tension and energy. Bright veins of acidity and minerality provide the backbone as the 2012 opens up in the glass. Readers who like vibrant, pulsating Burgundies will flip out over the 2012. There is a saline intensity here that is impossible to miss. This is another highlight in the range.

The 2012 Morey Saint Denis En La Rue de Vergy Blanc has a citrus, orange zest-scented bouquet that is muted at first, but gradually opens with a little encouragement. The palate is well defined with a fat, waxy textured opening and generous dried honey-tinged fruit on the finish. I might opt for the red version this year, or even the lovely Pernand village. It was a balmy, sunny June morning when I last visited Domaine Bruno Clair to take a peek at their 2011s, but it was different arriving to taste their 2012s, the mercury struggling above zero, snow draped over vines. It was a pleasure to meet Bruno and Philippe Brun again, the “Batman and Robin” of Marsannay, Bruno sporting his favorite lumberjack jacket ready to cut down a few trees. At least he was warm. After some reminiscing about his good friend Patrick Bize, we set about the new arrivals. The 2012s were picked between 20 September and 1 October. His village crus are raised in new oak until racking in early September and then transferred into 15-hectolitre foudres to moderate the impact of the wood. Usually they de-stem the entire crop, but the ripeness of the stems meant that his top crus include 20% whole cluster this year. They both seemed enthusiastic about the vintage and rightly so – this is a domaine that shifted up a gear and vies for the village’s leading domaine (even though their Gevrey holdings make the synonymous with the village further south.) Bruno and Philippe just appear to have found the knack of creating wines with finesse and character, a more prudent approach that has fostered more terroir-driven Pinot Noirs. Their Clos Saint Jacques was once and “also ran”. Now it is up there with the likes of Fourrier and Rousseau. Importer: A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, The Source, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621-6151. Also through Justerini & Brooks and other merchants in the UK.