Valentin Morel
About
Morel’s wines seem to us to reflect his frankness: there’s a clarity and a beauty in them, but they are not lacy, not delicate: they have a hearty quality, with the native power of the Jura, and an honesty that’s impossible to fake. There are several more traditional wines: Chardonnay, Savagnin, Poulsard and Trousseau, jewel-like and fuller-bodied at the same time, but Valentin is also working with new vineyards of hybrid varieties, vinified with more experimental techniques, believing we all must adapt and respond to the current environmental and political crises of our world. These wines are a touch wilder in tone, perhaps, but they represent a corner of progressive vinifying in France about which we’re excited.
Morel’s work is special, and his wines represent free-thinking, talented craftsmanship, with a devotion to place, people, plants, and the relations between them all. The wines themselves benefit from time: they have enough substance that a few years in bottle reveals elegance and more lift. Grab these while you can!
Products
Cotes du Jura Chardonnay Les Trouillots
Biodynamic. This Chardonnay comes from 35 year old vines planted on Trouillot Marl terroir. Hand harvested, destemmed, and pressed directly to tank. Native yeast fermentation and malolactic fermentation start in tank and wine is then transferred to neutral 600 liter barrels to complete fermentation. Bottled unfiltered with no sulfur added.
Cotes du Jura Chardonnay Saint Savin
Biodynamic. This Chardonnay comes from 35+ year old vines planted on limestone. Hand harvested, destemmed, and pressed. Native yeast fermentation in old foudres followed by aging and malolactic fermentation in used 600 L barrels. Bottled unfiltered with no additions beyond minimal sulfur.
Cotes du Jura Poulsard Les Trouillots
Biodynamic. 35+ year old vines planted on the Triassic marl soil of Trouillots. Manual harvest, Destemmed but kept whole berry with 15 day maceration (no punchdowns) under a blanket of CO2 to avoid using sulfur. Spontaneous semi carbonic fermentation and malolactic in stainless steel then racked onto fine lees and aged in stainless steel tanks. Unfiltered with no SO2 added at bottling.
Cotes du Jura Pinot Noir Les Trouillots
Biodynamic. 35+ year old vines planted on the Triassic marl soil of Trouillots. Manual harvest, Destemmed but kept whole berry with 12 day maceration (no punchdowns) under a blanket of CO2 to avoid using sulfur. Spontaneous semi carbonic fermentation and malolactic in stainless steel then racked onto fine lees and aged in stainless steel tanks. Unfiltered. SO2: 1 g /hl at bottling.
Cotes du Jura Savagnin Ouille
Biodynamic. 100% Savagnin from Saint Savin grown on limestone and Trouillot Marl. 35+ year old vines. Manual harvest, direct pressed into steel for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Then transferred to neutral barrels (600 liter) for ageing. No SO2 added at bottling.
Cotes du Jura Trousseau Les Trouillots
Biodynamic. The Les Trouillots parcel was planted in 1980 on Triassic marl soils (Gray marl, limestone syphrates). 350 m altitude with south exposition. Manual harvest, Destemmed but kept whole berry with 15 day maceration (no punchdowns) under a blanket of CO2 to avoid using sulfur. Spontaneous semi carbonic fermentation and malolactic in stainless steel then racked onto fine lees and aged in stainless steel tanks. Unfiltered with no SO added at bottling.
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Cotes du Jura Savagnin Bois d'Arnaux Maceration
Biodynamic. 100% Savagnin (1/3 Savagnin Rose, 2/3 Savagnin Jaune). Sourced from the parcel, Bois d’Arnaux, Valentine planted in 2015. 1.8 ha (including 60 ares Savagin) on Jurassic marl soils at 350 meters above sea level. This 2018 harvest was the first harvest of this parcel. Manuel harvest. 6 weeks maceration in whole clusters, then aged two years in demi-muids of 220, 500, and 600L. Assembled in tank before bottling in July 2020. Unfiltered. 700 cases made.
Vin de France 'Hommage a la Canaille'
Biodynamic. A cuvée of specially-selected hybrid varieties that Valentin co-planted as one .2ha parcel in 2017 (including Plantet Rouge, Seyve-Villard, Rayon d’Or, Souvignier Gris, and Sauvignac.) Destemmed, macerated three days, fermented in stainless. Wild stuff. The cuvée name is taken from a French rapper named La Canaille and translates to ‘hands in the mud but not a knee on the ground.’ It’s a wine of resistance.
Vin de France Broken Hearts are for Assholes Rose
Biodynamic. A cuvée made with Chardonnay from the 2020 harvest; fermented again with the pomace of various PiWi and hybrid varieties harvested in 2021 (Plantet Rouge, Seyve-Villard, Sauvignac, among others). Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The wine was aged in 228L barrels for roughly eight months. Bottled in September 2022 unfiltered, with no added SO2.
Vin de France 'Bulle Magique'
