Sylvain Morey, the son of Chassagne vigneron Jean-Marc Morey, grew up steeped in Burgundy’s heritage. But when he moved south to the Luberon, an area covering the space between the Côtes du Rhone and Provence,... Read More

Sylvain Morey, the son of Chassagne vigneron Jean-Marc Morey, grew up steeped in Burgundy’s heritage. But when he moved south to the Luberon, an area covering the space between the Côtes du Rhone and Provence, he didn't set out to make Burgundy – or even Burgundian – wine in the South. He was there to make great southern wine.

Of course, Sylvain’s Burgundian upbringing colored the entire project. When he arrived in 2002 the local trend was toward ever greater production at co-ops, and less bottling by vignerons. Growers were more interested in younger, higher-yielding vines that had been planted widely enough to permit tractors, rather than the older, lower-yielding vines that had to be worked by hand.

This trend presented an opportunity for Sylvain, who was able to get his hands on old vines planted in complex soils (clay, sand and limestone) at high altitudes. The old, deep rooted vines express all that terroir. And because the wind-swept, high-altitude vineyards are so cool at night, the vines ripen slowly, permitting Sylvain to wait for perfectly developed flavors before harvesting. Exactly what he needed to be able to make the most perfect expression of the local terroir possible.

Of course, to make such expressive wine Sylvain had to do more than just buy the right plots. He had to do the work, too. And that’s where his Burgundian roots really kicked in. He moved his sites to organic farming; he harvests by hand and ferments on the natural yeasts; he ages his wines in a mix of concrete and neutral wood.