In the 1930’s, famed expatriate American singer Josephine Baker sang, ” J’ai deux amours. Mon pays et Paris.” Ms. Baker had two loves, her own country and her adopted city, Paris. Talented winegrower Sylvain Morey juggles two loves in wine: his home in Burgundy and his adopted home, the Luberon in the south of France.
DEEP ROOTS IN BURGUNDY AND A MOVE TO LUBERON
As winegrower Jean-Marc Morey’s son, Sylvain grew up in the Burgundy wine village of Chassagne-Montrachet. The family’s fine holdings included Chassagne-Montrachet premier cru vineyards (both white and red), Saint-Aubin premier cru white, Santenay premier cru red (“Grand Clos Rousseau”), Beaune premier cru, and well-placed village parcels in both white and red Chassagne-Montrachet. So from his earliest years working along side his father (and grandfather, Albert), Sylvain had Burgundy soils on his hands and Burgundy winemaking in his blood.
Fate seemingly dictated a life rooted exclusively in Burgundy, but Sylvain’s journey turned in another direction. While studying in Burgundy’s capital of Dijon, Sylvain met his future wife. She had connections in the south of France in Luberon, so the Burgundy winegrower’s son paid a visit to have a look.
“When I arrived for the first time in the Luberon in 1993, to tell the truth I did not know the region at all,” Morey recalls. “My ex-wife’s father bought vines there a few years earlier. But there was no cellar, and all the grapes went to the cooperative.”
Morey vividly recalls the May morning at sunrise when he first took the road through the picturesque hilltop villages of Lauris, Lourmarin, and Cucuron. He encountered enchanting narrow streets and hauntingly beautiful medieval buildings. And the surrounding landscapes of rolling hills covered with grape vines, olive groves, lavender and wild herbs captured his heart.
“My mother’s family was from Tuscany, but in 1993 I didn’t know Italy yet. Now that I’ve been there, it makes sense that I fell in love with Luberon, the French Tuscany!” he says. “I saw a lot of vineyards in Luberon, with many different orientations and many grape varieties.”
To Morey’s surprise, Luberon’s hillside vineyards did not have large, round pebbles covering the soils as in nearby Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the rest of the southern Rhône Valley. Intrigued by these key differences from his early winegrowing experience, Sylvain pondered whether it was possible to make high quality, distinctive Luberon wines with the finesse and balance he knew so well from Burgundy. In 1995, he departed Burgundy and began observing Luberon viticulture in detail full-time.
“I worked and learned a lot for 7 years, selecting many vineyards and rehabilitating them year after year, ” Morey recalls.
Many Luberon growers working with the local cooperatives preferred having high-yielding, younger vines. Such growers willingly sold parcels with low-yielding, old vines to the newcomer from Burgundy. These vines provided just the sort of raw materials that Morey desired for making wines to his liking.
“In 2002, I was ready to create Bastide du Claux,” he recalls.
BASTIDE DU CLAUX IN LUBERON
Today in Luberon, Morey’s Domaine de La Basitde du Claux includes around 40 acres of vines spread over nine distinct, named parcels. Over the years, Morey steadily converted the vineyards to organic cultivation. He anticipates ECOCERT certification in 2021. Morey follows the Burgundy tradition of harvesting the grapes by hand while making a rigorous selection in the vineyard. This ensures only undamaged, fully ripened fruit goes into fermentation. And instead using this high quality fruit to make generic blends for bulk wines, the domaine produces a range of seven distinct wines—three red cuvées, three white cuvées, and one dry rosé.
Over time Morey honed his savoir-faire in deftly blending Luberon’s diverse grape varieties. The goal, he says, is always to fulfill his vision of achieving final wines with qualities he likes most in well made Burgundies: namely finesse, drinkability and freshness.
“I don’t go for power or strength when I know a wine is balanced without them,” Morey says. “I owe this all to the Burgundy wines that I have tasted since I was young.”
While continuing to make highly regarded wines at Bastide du Claux, in 2014 Morey’s wine destiny took another turn. Burgundy came calling again.
DOMAINE SYLVAIN MOREY IN BURGUNDY
Upon their father’s retirement, Sylvain and his sister Caroline had the opportunity to split their Burgundy vineyard inheritance. So Sylvain came into his own Burgundy estate, Domaine Sylvain Morey. It encompasses 13 small plots totaling around 8 acres. He relies heavily on teamwork with trusted colleagues in both Burgundy and Luberon to achieve consistent winemaking success in both regions.
Now in his sixth year producing his own Burgundy wines, Morey steadily builds on his father’s methods. In the cellar, fermentation for both whites and reds takes place with indigenous yeasts with mostly destemmed grapes. Patient aging of the wines occurs in traditional barrels with only a small percentage (20%) of new oak. He takes a “hands off” approach with the white wines by doing minimal lees stirring (i.e., bâtonnage). Sylvain increased the aging of the white wines generally to 18 months, rather than bottling after 12 months. The resulting wines are well-knit upon release. Bottling occurs without filtration.
WINEGROWING IN TWO WORLDS
As a winegrower commuting between Luberon and Burgundy, Sylvain embraces the challenges of working in two opposing viticulture traditions. He says Luberon has high-trained vineyards with medium vine density (4,300 vines per hectare) composed of multiple grape varieties. This results in compulsory blending before bottling. Meanwhile Burgundy generally has low-trained vineyards with high vine density (10,000 vines per hectare) composed of essentially single grape varieties. Vinification and bottling must take place in Burgundy by specific appellations and crus.
“The two vineyards are very different, that’s obvious,” Morey says. “However, climate change implies certain Burgundian adaptations today which may have been tested successfully in the Luberon previously.”
For example, Morey never strips vine leaves in Luberon’s intensely sunny climate to avoid possible sun burning of the fruit. Hard experience teaches that serious damage to the grapes can occur very quickly without leaf protection. Now Sylvain uses a similar restrained leaf stripping policy in Burgundy even though it has a traditionally cooler and less sunny climate. It was a wise move in the 2020 vintage when Burgundy experienced an extremely hot and sunny August. That said, big challenges remain.
“It remains complicated because there is nothing more different than a viticulture with low density plantings and high vines from a viticulture with high density plantings and low vines,” Morey says. ‘Climate change tends to reduce the differences between the two regions, but, all the same, the hardest part is that you really must have two professional “softwares” to use depending on where you are. It the same job, but everything is different in each place.’
Based on his transition to organic grapegrowing in Luberon, Morey is testing similar methods in Burgundy. The organic approach served Morey well in elevating Bastide du Claux, so he is excited to apply his acquired knowledge in Burgundy. He is especially focused on combating powdery mildew, an increasingly worrisome problem in Burgundy, according to Sylvain. His experience in Luberon already taught him to control powdery mildew for many years.
Despite the big differences between Burgundy and Luberon viticulture, Morey sees an important fundamental similarity.
“I would say that it is possible in both regions to obtain ripe but balanced grapes, with an existing acidity and a fairly preserved freshness,” he notes. “This is what makes my Luberon wines sometimes have what is called a Burgundy character.”
THE WINES:
The following outstanding wines from Bastide du Claux and Domaine Sylvain Morey have limited availability in U.S. markets:
2018 Bastide du Claux, Luberon Blanc “Barraban” ($17.99): This charming white comes from a hodge-podge of grapes including Vermentino and Grenache Blanc, but also dashes of Clairette, Ugni Blanc, Rousanne, Marsanne, and Viognier. Most come from old vines grown in sandy clay soils. The hand-harvested fruit ferments with indigenous yeasts before aging on fine lees in both concrete vats and older oak barrels. The wine’s polished golden color offers engaging aromas of white flowers, citrus and light herbals notes. On the palate, flavors of ripe grapefruit and quince mix with light herbal accents. Layers of ample acidity creates vivid freshness. This well-balanced wine has plenty of finesse and finishes fruity but dry. Highly Recommended.
2019 Bastide du Claux, Luberon Rosé “Poudrière” ($15.99): As Morey notes on his website, 2019 was a challenging vintage in Luberon. Severe drought over the first 6 months of the year led to scorching temperatures at the end of June. Violent summer storms brought much needed water but also caused hail damage in some areas. Yields were affected significantly, but Sylvain still produced a delicious “pink” wine made from a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. After hand harvesting and partial direct pressing, the juice fermented with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. The resulting wine’s deep salmon color offers vibrant aromas of red fruits and grapefruit. The wine has ample concentration with lush flavors of pure, juicy red fruits and bright freshness. The wine finishes fruity, yet dry. It’s a perfect choice with a classic Salade Niçoise. Recommended.
2018 Bastide du Claux, Luberon Rouge “Malacare” ($17.99): This comes from primarily Syrah with Grenache and Carignan grapes from three distinct plots, all hand-picked, destemmed and slowly fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine aged in concrete tanks and a wooden vat for 18 months before blending and bottling with light filtration. The red wine’s concentrated purple color offers blackberry, lavender and black liquorice aromas with light herbal notes. Ripe blackberry fruit flavors follow with medium concentration balanced by refreshing acidity and fine tannins. The carries its 14.5% alcohol by volume with graceful ease. Very gouleyant, i.e,. easy to gulp. Pair it with grilled skirt steak with a sauce of red wine and shiitake mushrooms. Highly Recommended.
2018 Domaine Sylvain Morey, Bourgogne-Aligoté ($29): Aligoté is a traditional Burgundy variety that was widely underappreciated in the late 20th Century. Frequently the grape was overgrown to produce watery, insipid white wines. There were, however, always dedicated winegrowers who treated Aligoté differently. They avoided over-producing and instead worked to make more distinctive, terroir-driven wines. Sylvain Morey’s delicious wine embodies the second approach. He uses Aligoté vines planted in 1997 in terroir partially within the Chassagne-Montrachet Village appellation. After fermenting with native yeasts, the new wine spends 15 months aging in previously used, large 350-liter barrels, resting on its fine lees without stirring.
The resulting final wine’s lovely golden color offers inviting aromas of citrus and baked apples. The rich texture delivers ripe citrus and peach flavors with bright, trenchant acidity. Touches of enticing creaminess and savory salinity add complexity and finesse. It finishes dry and fruity and makes a nice pairing with ripe Burgundy cheeses such as runny, aromatic Époisses. Highly Recomended.
2018 Domaine Sylvain Morey, Bourgogne-Passetoutgrain ($27): Burgundy Passetoutgrain reds come from the tradition of blending pinot noir with gamay to produce an easy-drinking wine suitable for quaffing with casual bistro meals, Morey deftly captures this fun spirit with his blend of 2/3 pinot moir and 1/3 gamay. But his wine also delivers an extra dimension of quality and complexity. It offers ripe black cherry and brown spice aromas with light smoky notes. Juicy cherry and cassis flavors blend with bright acidity and fine, light tannins. A modest, but beautifully balanced red and a sheer joy to drink with rabbit stewed with red wine, garlic and mushrooms. Highly Recommended.
2016 Domaine Sylvain Morey, Chassagne-Montrachet ($47): The 2016 vintage was difficult, yet rewarding indeed. Severe Spring frosts and Summer hail combined to reduce grape yields to minuscule amounts. But good weather in September enabled the surviving pinot noir grapes to ripen fully with terrific aromas and pure, concentrated flavors. Sylvain Morey took full advantage. He fermented this wine with partial whole clusters for added freshness and lift. He used pump overs rather than punch downs to avoid picking up hard tannins in the wine. Aging occurred for 18 months in Burgundy barrels with only 20% new oak.
In the glass, the wine’s dark ruby color offers cassis, pure black cherry and brown spice aromas. On the palate,the wine’s juicy, sweet red fruit flavors have medium concentration balanced beautifully with vibrant freshness and silky tannins. This is a marvelous, seamless beauty of a wine—understated, pure and beautifully proportioned. And most importantly, it’s delicious! Pair it with grilled filet steaks. Highly Recommended.