Beaune 1er cru Les Grèves 2023 Domaine Thomas Morey

Beaune 1er Cru Les Grèves 2023 from Domaine Thomas Morey is one of the most precise and elegant red cuvées from this domaine, renowned above all for its great whites from Chassagne-Montrachet. This is the Côte de Beaune at its most refined: a Pinot Noir at once fleshy and airy, structured and floral, carried by vines rooted in Les Grèves since 1969 and made with the restraint and finesse that define Thomas Morey's signature.

The terroir of Les Grèves

Les Grèves is the largest and most emblematic of Beaune's premiers crus, extending across 31 hectares at the heart of the appellation between 220 and 260 metres altitude, with full easterly exposure. Its name designates the soil itself — gravels and friable rocks often decomposed into silts, enriched by notable iron oxide in the upper part of the climat. The Morey family has owned two parcels here since 1969, with rows of vines stretching nearly 450 metres along the slope, where the terrain gradually shifts from sandier soil toward gravel and calcareous clay. The Pinot Noir vines were partially replanted in 1976 and 1988 through mass selection, giving them today remarkable maturity and concentration. Les Grèves are unanimously considered the richest, most structured and most age-worthy wines of the entire Beaune appellation, a characteristic the critic Philip Youngman Carter described as a "sweet delight of velvet".

Tasting profile

The colour is a dense and luminous purple-ruby, of beautiful depth. The nose is wonderfully floral and finely fruited: notes of violet, bright red cherry and fresh raspberry open onto earthy and spiced touches, with a hint of liquorice and flint stone that marks the calcareous imprint of the terroir. On the palate, the wine is at once present and transparent, a juicy and crisp red fruit threaded through by fresh and lively acidity that gives energy and tension. The tannins are round, well-integrated and characteristically elegant to Beaune, never weighing down the whole. The oak is fine and discreet, with only 20 percent new wood, faithful to Thomas Morey's philosophy of refusing to mask terroir beneath oak. The finish is long, mineral and persistent, with a freshness that invites both patience and immediate pleasure.

The domaine

Thomas Morey founded his domaine in 2006 after sharing the family vineyards with his brother Vincent, inherited from their father Bernard and grandfather Albert. Trained within this illustrious Burgundian family, he established himself within a few vintages as one of the most precise and sought-after signatures of the Côte de Beaune, particularly for his six Premier Cru whites from Chassagne-Montrachet. His 12.5-hectare domaine, farmed organically, spans Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Beaune, Santenay and Saint-Aubin. His style is distinguished by a constant search for tension, lightness and terroir definition, with minimally interventionist vinifications, native yeast fermentations, controlled warm temperatures and minimal punch-downs for reds to preserve textural suppleness, and measured ageing in oak with a minimum of new wood. The whites ferment in barrel and are aged at least 12 months, with occasional stirring.

Food pairings

This Beaune 1er Cru Les Grèves will pair beautifully with beef fillet en croûte with porcini mushrooms, duck roasted with cherries, rack of lamb with Provençal herbs, squab with green lentils from Le Puy, or guinea fowl en cocotte. It will also find handsome harmony with aged firm-paste cheeses such as 18-month Comté or Époisses. Decanting for 30 minutes is recommended for the first few years. Served between 15 and 17°C, it will express all the precision and grace of a great Beaune terroir.