Domaine Odoul-Coquard Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos La Riotte 2020

Clos la Riotte carries one of the more unusual stories in the Odoul-Coquard portfolio — and understanding it adds to the wine's charm. The clos is almost a monopole for the domaine: they farm the entire vineyard as métayers but from the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis, so one third of the wine goes back to the village in bottle for fêtes and village celebrations — a charming arrangement that has persisted for decades and makes the bottles that do reach the open market all the more precious. The vines sit virtually on the rock at the limit of Clos de la Roche — proximity that is not coincidental: the mineral tension that defines this wine owes a great deal to that ancient limestone bedrock pressing close to the surface. Vines of 30 years are aged for 15 months in 50% new oak, a proportion that matches the Charmes-Chambertin élevage and reflects Sébastien's conviction that Clos la Riotte deserves to be treated with grand cru seriousness.

Fine, elegant and precise dark red fruit — very fine. Not big and wide, but very engrossing — the mineral character of the terroir always present, threading through the fruit like a seam of iron. A fascinating nose — tangy and high-pitched with red fruits to the fore, almost a sweet-and-sour thing within the tang, something a touch exotic; entering the mouth rich and supple, gathering an easy, elegant grip, fresh and becoming juicily, grippily so over time, long with those vineyard rocks crushed about the finish. Dark fruits, fine texture, elegant with a touch of minerality on the palate — a wine that caused a stir when first encountered by the cognoscenti, and continues to reward those paying attention to one of Morey's most distinctive and underrated premier crus