2012 Morey St Denis Les Millandes

The 2012 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Millandes comes from 70-year-old vines that tend to produce small berries. This includes nearly 50% whole cluster fruit. It has a very well-defined bouquet with dark berry fruit, sous-bois, minerals and dried rose petals. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a keen thread of acidity and a very composed and focused finish. This is one of their best wines, full of energy waiting to burst from the glass. Tip offs. Approaching Burgundy means that you are constantly seeking recommendations. With a seemingly endless number of producers, there is always another unfamiliar name around the corner; always some hitherto disregarded winemaker who is undergoing their own unrecorded revolution. In this case, it is the latter. Chatting to a friend with a good nose for Burgundy, he suggested I check out Domaine Heresztyn on my next visit. I recognized the name. It doesn’t sound very French. I drove past their rather tatty sign in the central Gevrey street on numerous occasions, and perhaps took it as a sign of an “also-ran” producer not worth my time. But I was reliably informed that changes were afoot and so the following day, I contacted Florence Heresztyn to arrange a visit and found out for myself. And the good news is that readers should ignore that rather dishevelled sign because inside, this is a domaine reborn. Domaine Heresztyn has been a family business since 1932, Florence’s grandparents originating from Poland, her grandfather Jan originally looking for work in the mines. Florence herself worked alongside her family for 13 years but 2012 marks the first vintage under the reorganized domaine that now belongs to Florence and her husband Simon Mazzini, a winemaker from Champagne who has worked at the domaine since 2003. They both began to work their influence in 2007 when they began to introduce whole bunch fermentation, which has become a fundamental principle at the domaine. “We saw a difference when we began using 20% to 30% stems,” Florence explained. “For 2012 we decided to make 35-50% stems. We have one team to select the grapes and another team to select the best stems, which is very important. Our approach in the vineyard is lutte raisonee and we try to apply the right dose at the right moment, so that we did just six treatments in 2013 and more de-leafing. We now use small cagettes – this has made a big difference. We prune down to five buds per cane. In the winery, we have added another cooper, La Tonnellerie de Marsannay to our Francois Frere and Remond barrels.” I asked Florence how they were affected by the growing season. “In 2012 we lost 30% to 40% of the grapes and more in 2013 when we threw away a lot of grapes rather than deselecting them.” Tasting through their 2012s, it is clear that a new chapter has opened for this domaine. The wines are clean, fresh, full of vitality, expressive and simply delicious. If I am to quibble, then as I mentioned to them, perhaps they should just dial down the new oak from say 35% to 25% so that the influence of the stems can filter through, but otherwise, they seem to be everything right. The labels have been redesigned with an eye-catching violet-color signature on the label and distinctive violet colored capsule so that the bottles look the part. Now, all they have to do is change that sign. Importer: Esquin Imports (CA) at www.wineimports.org and available through Clark Foyster Wines (www.clarkfoysterwines.co.uk) in the UK.