CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er CRU "LES CHAMPS-GAIN" WHITE WINE 2020 (Domaine Sylvain Morey)

The CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru Champs-Gains is a white wine made from grapes grown on old Chardonnay vines planted in the area known as Les Champs-Gains. This parcel, known for the production of full-bodied red wines, has been gradually replanted with Chardonnay.

The Chardonnays produce here more powerful wines than the average, with a dominant floral flavour. Sylvain Morey refines, vintage after vintage, the knowledge of this terroir and what it implies for the white wines produced: combining the harvest date, the barrels origin and the maturation duration, the wines gain in finesse and delicacy.

The white cuvées from this parcel are generally distinguished by their length, their strength and their creamy flavours.

The yield of the old vines is about 55 hl/ha.

TERROIR

The plot Les Champs-Gains faces south-east and is situated at an altitude of approximately 210 metres. The soil is made up of clayey or silty-clay colluvium of a reddish-brown colour with abundant limestone debris masking the Jurassic limestone substrate. This debris comes from alteration and disintegration of the substratum, or even fragments of limestone broken up by alternating freezing and thawing and brought down by gravity or runoff onto this plot.

In this deep and rich soil, the grapes always ripen earlier than those planted on the neighbouring plot of Caillerets.

WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING

The grapes are harvested by hand and pressed as whole bunches without crushing. The juice is then statically settled and chilled for one day before being transferred to 350 liter barrels, 25% of which are new. The alcoholic fermentation starts spontaneously in the presence of indigenous yeasts, followed by malolactic fermentation made by indigenous bacteria.

The must is then matured on its fine lees without stirring for 18 months before being racked and blended in stainless steel vats where it rests for a further two months for stabilisation.
The must is then fined with casein but not filtered, and bottled.