Gérard et Pierre Morin, 2016 Update
It seems like a long time since I first visited Pierre Morin, although it was in fact only last June, less than a year ago. I knew little of his wines at the time, which was of course exactly why I decided I should pay him a visit. What I discovered was a motivated young vigneron, relatively recently installed, his father Gérard having been content to hand over the reins. And as is the case with many of the new generation of vignerons gradually taking control in the Loire Valley, Pierre’s formation included stints in foreign lands, perhaps the most notable of which was in Burgundy (which counts as ‘foreign’ if you’re from Sancerre, surely?).
Just one generation ago leaving home and then returning with stories of working the vines on the Côte d’Or would probably have raised more eyebrows than a claim to have spent time tending the vineyards in the Emerald City, east of nowhere, on behalf of the Wizard of Oz. But for Pierre, who worked at Domaine Dujac, the experience was very real, and I sense it was a significant time in his development, one that has determined strongly how he handles his reds, which are superb. The whites are not to be ignored either, each cuvée (but especially the three single-vineyard cuvées) simply brimming with the caillottes minerality of Bué. Pierre adds weight to my belief that true Sancerre acolytes need to look beyond Chavignol to find all that this appellation really offers.
The Wines
I guess there are any number of ways in which you can approach a wine tasting. I almost always let the vigneron be my guide, after all they know the wines better than anyone and they should therefore know the best order in which to show them. Most choose to show the entirety of one vintage followed by the next, and the order is often white then red, although some in Sancerre prefer red then white which I think is a wise decision with Sauvignon Blanc. Pierre Morin (pictured), however, opted to go cuvée by cuvée, for the whites showing the 2014 and 2015 vintages together, and a broader range of vintages for the reds. I liked this approach a lot; not only does it allow a more precise comparison of the vintages, it showcases how the minerality builds through the range. I have left my notes, presented below, in the order of tasting.
