The Most Singular Burgundies in My Portfolio: Micro Production, Biodynamic, Natural and Almost Impossible to Describe

If People Ask for 3 Recommendations in Burgundy, I Always Make JJ Morel One of the Visits
Morel's Minimal Lack of Cellar Intervention Makes These Wines Unpredictable, Distinctive and Special

2016 JJ Morel St. Aubin Rouge
 - Incredibly Low Yields in 2016
 - Dark Fruits, Dense and Deep
 - An Unbridled Beauty

2016 JJ Morel St. Aubin "Les Frionnes"
 - Easily 1er Cru in Quality
 - An Extra Step Up in Beauty
 - Mineral Soaked
 - Insanely Delicious

I just sent a client to JJ Morel as they were going to Burgundy and I try to send as many people as I Australian wine magazine from 2014. Jean Jacques makes wine now in the Adelaide Hills. I tasted it last time I was there and it as delicious. Here is our piece where we ask all our winemakers the same Six Questions. As you can see JJ Morel is a man of wide talents. Jean Jacques is one of the best people this planet has to offer. When I think of an old school French vigneron doing it his own way. The guy has had quite a life. Here is a great interview with him in an

No one else would try to import these wines.  The winemaker doesn't make enough wine to earn a living from this, he does it for the love of wine.  And I get a small allocation, not enough to support a normal import portfolio.  Honestly, I get so little it barely makes sense for me but everyone who drinks the wines absolutely loves them, so it's worth it to me.

These are wines that you can pretty much dedicate the evening to.  The aromatics are so wonderful that you can get an evening of enjoyment just from smelling them.  There is something unmistakably distinctive about these wines.  Morel just makes them in a way that you can only do with incredibly small lots and you can tell they have that little something "extra." They have a subtle beauty to them is unique and distinctive in my Burgundy portfolio. And the clients who love the wines constantly write me about how terrific they are.

I struggle to describe why they are so great.  Part of it is that they are so aromatic.  But I think more is that they are so perfectly well made that one can experience an almost zen or out of body moment at times when drinking them.

Morel's wines are about as micro production as it gets in Burgundy. All the wines are completely different from each other, but the wines achieve the same endpoint which is being wines ofcontemplation and deliciousness that defy the AOC system that codifies wine by geography.  Values are found when winemakers like Jean-Jacques push what can be done in the vineyard (a biodynamic and organic environment is the only way to describe his vineyards)  to such an extreme level that the resultant wines are "imprisoned" by their appellation.  I don't often bang the drum about biodynamic production but when you taste these wines, you believe the claims that living soil makes great wine.  These wines are so complex and delicious that paired with a bowl of Tater Tots, they make a great meal. These are not just St. Aubin Rouges they are profound wines of place and soul.

Up first is the 2016 JJ Morel St. Aubin Rouge for $31.99 a bottle on a 4-pack, which is one of the two best red wines JJ Morel has ever made. His reds transform in ripe vintages. There is a beauty to them in ripe vintages like 2015 but also normal vintages like 2014. 2016 is more like 2015 than 2014, but it has more dark fruits from the very low yields. The man cannot miss. The wine has amazing freshness. Just stunning freshness. That is his trademark red, I think. It is an elegant wine which I did not expect as some 16s from "smaller" appellations can be bruisers due to low yields. Not this. Just an exquisite Pinot Noir of unbridled beauty yet also wild, earthy, feral and mineral. Very mineral and foresty with exotic spice and menthol. Gorgeous lifting nose. Big juicy and ripe and wonderful tannins that frame all the fruit, spice and mineral. Very dense and deep. The wine is so deep as 16s from less heralded appellations can be. The fruit is dark red but there is also some blackberry as well, but is buoyed by its acid and freshness and serious mineral spine. I has a wonderful charm to it. This has excellent aging potential but will seduce after a 45 minute decant.


Up next is an ultra rare 2016 JJ Morel St. Aubin "Les Frionnes" for $39.99 a bottle net. This is one of those wines that stopped us all in our tracks. The wine is flat out stunning and an emotional experience. It is easily identifiable as a 1er Cru in quality and the top Morel red as there is that extra step up in finesse and balance. The balance of this red-fruited mineral soaked beauty is surreal. There is so much freshness and cut and an incredibly long and balanced finish. So pure. This is insanely delicious. It takes over the mouth and the tannins are so refined. Easily one of the top '16 reds I've offered up. This is super limited.

2016 JJ Morel St. Aubin Rouge - $33.99 ($127.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)

2016 JJ Morel St. Aubin Rouge Les Frionnes - $39.99 NET 

(VERY LIMITED)