x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 042
  • Producer ranking ?

    38
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    Now

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

The Story

Of all the villages of the Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis is one of the most fruitful in terms of the number of its Grands Crus. The Clos de Tart, which remains a solely-held entity, was founded by the Cistercians of Tart in 1141. Since that date, it has been owned by only three families. The Clos Saint-Denis came on the scene in the 11th century, thanks to the fortress of Vergy. The Clos de la Roche and Clos des Lambrays are both semi-monopoles and both have long histories which have involved some adjustment of boundaries between Climats. The Clos de la Roche and Clos Saint-Denis were awarded their Grand Cru appellations on 8 December 1936, Clos de Tart on 4 January 1939, and Clos des Lambrays 27 April 1981.
Facing east or slightly south of east at around 250 metres above sea-level, these Climats may be seen as a southerly extension of the Grands Crus of Gevrey-Chambertin. First comes the Clos de la Roche, then Clos Saint-Denis followed by Clos des Lambrays, and finally Clos de Tart leading to Bonnes-Mares.

 

Limestone dominates in the Clos de la Roche where the soil is barely 30 cm deep with few pebbles but with large boulders which give the climat its name. In the Clos de Tart, scree-derived soils 40-120 cm thick cover the underlying limestone. The Upper part of the Clos des Lambrays is marly with claylimestone soil further down. The Clos Saint-Denis at the foot of the slope has pebble-free brown limestone soils which contain phosphorus (like Chambertin) and clay (like Musigny). 

Diversity is to be expected as each Grand Cru has its own personality. To the eye, this wine is plain ruby, sometimes a bit darker. Veiled in strawberry and violet, the Clos de Tart offers both robustness and charm. Quite tannic when young, it softens with age while gaining in complexity. The Clos des Lambrays is a true aristocrat, fully rounded in youth and with added depth and gravity as the years go by. The Clos Saint-Denis impresses by its finely–tuned nuances – this wine is the Mozart of the Côte de Nuits. The Clos de la Roche is firmer, deeper and more serious, closely akin to Chambertin. Aromas of humus and truffle are often precursors to notes of small red or black fruits. A small part of the BONNES-MARES appellation lies in this commune, but the greater part is in Chambolle-Musigny. (See Fact-sheet No. 5).

Intense and full-bodied when fully mature, these wines have a densely tannic texture and an aromatic richness which makes them a fitting - and equal - partner for feathered game. They are perfect, too, with a rib steak and, for lovers of Asian cuisine, adapt well to the aromatic intensity of glazed poultry. Their supple but virile tannins go well with veal (braised or in sauce) and with roast or braised lamb. One must also not forget their invaluable affinity for strong-flavoured soft-centred cheeses.

Serving temperatures : 12 to 13 °C for young wines, 15 to 16 °C for older wines.

Close

Vintage 1988

1988 VINTAGE in Burgundy / 1988 has been a good vintage in Burgundy, with enough quantity to offset the revived demand of our foreign and home customers.​

Good summer weather meant an early harvest of excellent quality for the reds. Rich and well structured, these wines which were a little rough in their youth today offer a wonderful opportunity to drink quality mature Pinot Noir, the best will continue to improve. The great whites can be put in the same category as the reds : full, round, well balanced and are very good to drink now.

The nearly geat year

As anyone knows, what we need in Burgundy is warm weather all the time, with the exception of a few showers now and then just to keep the leaves green, and at the end of the season to help the vine continue to produce sugar and to lower acidity.

The spell of cold that we had at the beginning of September interrupted a long period of sunshine and stopped for a while the maturing of the grapes: rain only came during the vendange itself, too late to ensure their perfect ripening.

The last days of the season were, as always, the most breath-taking, with marvellous summer-like weather in the second half of September. Harvesting as late as possible was beneficial, as it nearly always is: there was no rot on the superb bunches of grapes, a deep colour, and an excellent balance of the various elements. 

During the summer of 1988 and until the very end we had only one half of the average rainfall. This deficit was difficult to overcome and, with the hot weather of August and most of September and the happy flowering of the grapes in the middle of June, we have been just a hair's breadth from a great vintage.

All the good winegrowers who had pruned carefully and not indulged in high yields easily obtained from 12 to 12.5 potential degrees of alcohol, which indicates very good quality; and although the lack of rain slowed the ripening, it had the advantage of keeping the individual grapes small, giving concentration, tannin and colour to the wines.

After the first "décuvage", the overall impression is that the red wines have structure and tannin, with a beautiful vivid colour, the depth of which is really only seen in good vintages.

The acidity is medium to high and it is obvious that we will have a "vin de garde", which will mellow only after a long period of ageing in cask and bottle.

It is difficult to compare 1988 with another vintage, as precocity usually means that the vines have had plenty of sunshine and produce mellow and soft wines; however, the `88 will compare more with a very good vintage picked in October, like 1978 or 1952.

The great whites will be put in the same category as the reds: good structure, power and a lot of firmness.

In the Beaujolais, the news is excellent too: good colour, perfect ripening and overall abundance.

 

 

 

 

Close

Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

Tasting note

Be the first one to make a 20s tasting note!

Written Notes

The 1988 Dujac Clos de la Roche had a lot of Christmas spice but a lot of dirty tootsie pop as well. Anise, Asian spices and ‘watermelon’ came out on the palate. This was a bit of a sweaty bird with a muddy finish. While still an excellent wine, I have had so many superhuman bottles of Dujac this year, but this wasn’t one of them. I still enjoyed it (93).

  • 93p
I did not score the wine at the time but I think it would have been around 96-98pts if I had). I still remember the feeling I experienced, it was so enjoyable!
Load more notes

Information

Origin

Morey-Saint-Denis, Burgundy

Other wines from this producer

Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

Chambertin

Chambolle-Musigny Les Gruenchers

Charmes-Chambertin

Clos St-Denis Grand Cru

Echézeaux

Gevrey-Chambertin aux Combottes

Marc de Bourgogne

Morey Saint-Denis Aligoté

Morey-Saint-Denis Les Monts Luisants

Morey-St-Denis

Morey-St-Denis Premier Cru

Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes

Romanée-Saint-Vivant

Vosne Romanee Aux Malconsorts

Vosne Romanee Les Beaux Monts

Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts 1er Cru

Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register