2015 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru La Riotte

Located in the village of Morey St Denis, Domaine Taupenot-Merme was created in 1963 from the marriage of Jean Taupenot and Denise Merme. It is now run by the brother and sister team of Romain and Virginie Taupenot. For many years, two different estates operated simultaneously, one in Morey St Denis and one in St Romain. These were then merged when Romain took over in 1998. Romain likes to fly under the radar–a soft-spoken man with a gentle demeanor and an outstanding knowledge of the region who makes classic wines of purity and finesse.

The Domaine is spread quite widely throughout the Cote, boasting 13 hectares of vines over 20 appellations, striking a good balance between Grand Cru, Premiers Cru and Village wines. Each of the domaine’s wines speak to a sense of place, illustrating typicity punctuated with a signature of impressive aromatics, chiseled tannins and silky texture.

Romain moved from lutte raisonnee to organic viticulture in 2001, with a winemaking approach which is very hands-off. He talks of infusion not extraction, with fermentation occurring naturally with indigenous yeasts before the grapes go into the pneumatic press. The elevage is also simple, with Romain employing mostly two tonneliers–Francois and Mercurey. Ageing is between 12 to 14 months on fine lees and no racking, with Grand Cru wines seeing 40% new oak, 30% for 1er Crus and about 20% for Village wines. Wines are then transferred to stainless steel tanks for 3 month prior to bottling, with neither fining nor filtration.