Sherbrooke Cellars © Copyright
Pierre Henri Morel
Winery
Pierre-Henri Morel has a true passion for food, wine and great terroirs from its native region: the Rhone Valley. He started to work with worldly acclaimed winemaker Michel Chapoutier in 2000 and has been deeply involved in the management of the winery since then. In 2007, Michel Chapoutier proposed a new adventure to Pierre-Henri: they decided to purchase in joint-venture a vineyard in the prestigious “Pignan” area in Chateauneuf du Pape. This 4 ha vineyard is planted with old vines of Grenache. It truly offers an outstanding terroir with the potential to make one of the most refined Chateauneuf du Pape.
Pierre-Henri is fascinated by the Southern Rhone Valley and the amazing variety of its soils. A few other wines were added to the range: Cotes du Rhone Villages “Laudun” and “Signargues”, from the right bank of the Rhone facing Chateauneuf du Pape, are outstanding values, and a Gigondas, made from plots which are located on beautiful height and medium height terraces made of alluvial soils.
Pierre-Henri Morel wines are vinified and aged within the M. Chapoutier infrastructures with the best care and attention.
The quest for new terroirs is not over!
Map of Rhone Valley Appelations
Wines
Cotes Du Rhone Villages Laudun Blanc 2010
The vineyards used to produce this wine straddle 3 communes: Laudun, Saint-Victor-la-Coste and Tresques in the French Department of the Gard. Soils are stony or gravely, dry and skeletal on distinct slopes. The climate is classically Mediterranean, warm and dry with regular breezes from the Mistral wind. Although these vineyards have been in existence since Roman times it was not until the 17th century that they became well known. Laudun was one of the famous and traditional “Côte du Rhône Gardoise” wines. A report made by a panel of experts on the Laudun Appellation’s terrain and wines enabled the Tribunal d’Uzés to define, from 1947 onwards, both the area and production conditions relating to this wine, and was, in 1967, registered as Côtes du Rhône Villages Laudun.
Juicy and mouthfilling, with delicious pear, green melon and white peach flavors mixed together and backed by a bouncy green almond note on the finish. Drink now through 2012. 1,100 cases made.
90 Points, Wine Spectator, October 2011
The 2010 offerings include the 2010 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Laudun Blanc, which is reminiscent of a light-bodied Chablis. Crisp grapefruit and other citrus notes are present in this attractive, straightforward, fresh white. Consume it over the next year.
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, October 2011
Cotes Du Rhone Villages Signargues 2009
Signargues is the furthest south of the Côtes du Rhône Villages Appellation allowed to bear a geographical designation, spreading across 4 different communities : Domazan, Estézargues, Rochefort du Gard, and Saze. The terrain is composed of soils featuring the famed “galets roulés”, or large pebbles, with Pliocene clay soils below. At an average altitude of 150 meters above the Rhone River, the climate is classically Mediterranean, warm and dry with regular breezes from the Mistral wind. The terroir of Signargues is well known to historians since the time the Ancient Romans occupied the area to the battles of Charles Martel, from the Popes in Avignon to the cult of Bacchus. Vestiges still exist, such as the two-faced statue of Bacchus and Arianne which can be seen in the Louvre Museum, found by an archaeologist in the area. In 2005, the vineyard was officially registered as Côtes du Rhône Villages.
The nose is full with aromas of very ripe black fruit. It is gourmand with liquorice aromas and a spicy finish.
A real sleeper of the vintage is Morel’s 2009 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Signargues. This dense plum/ruby wine exhibits loads of raspberry and black cherry fruit, medium body, and plenty of spice and earth. It should drink nicely for 3-4 years
89-91 Points, Wine Advocate, October 2011
A pure and very silky wine, with a gorgeous mix of damson plum, raspberry, black cherry and plum fruit, laced with graphite and black tea and followed by a long, incense-tinged finish. Drink now through 2012. 3,500 cases made.
90 Points, Wine Spectator, October 2011
100 Outstanding Values of 2011, Wine Spectator, December 2011
label / tech sheet / shelf talker
Cotes Du Rhone Villages Signargues 2010
“The 2010 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Signargues, primarily Grenache blended with Syrah and Mourvedre, exhibits strawberry and black cherry fruit notes intermixed with hints of licorice, damp earth and garrigue. This medium-bodied, elegant, pure, deep ruby/purple-tinged effort should drink well for 5-6 years.”
88-90 Points, Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, October 2011
Gigondas 2009
The vineyards, planted on stony red clay, well-drained soils, on slopes and wide terraces located entirely within the commune of Gigondas, which enjoys a dry, hot Southern climate with 2,800 hours of sunshine per year. The prevailing wind is the Mistral. Since the 12th century, religious institutions were responsible for expanding vine cultivation. Later, and right up to the 18th century, Gigondas fell under the Principality of Orange owned by the Rhénane de Nassau family until it was annexed by Louis XIV. The Gigondas Appellation was awarded by decree in 1971. While the Syrah vines are pruned in the Guyot style, the other grape varieties, are goblet or bush trained on trunks with a maximum of 2 productive eyes per spur, with a total of no more than 15 productive eyes per vine, plus a bourillon, or first fertile bud. The grapes are subjected to an extended maceration on the skins and then the wine is matured in old oak casks known as tuns.
Elegant aromas of black cherries, red-fruit jam and pepper. Aromas of very ripe red and black fruit with spicy overtones and garrigue notes.
The 2009 Gigondas offers more minerality but sweet cranberry and boysenberry fruit, good acidity, and a fresh, lively mouthfeel. Nevertheless, I preferred the Signargues.
88-90 Points, Wine Advocate, October 2011
A sleek, polished style, this displays lovely linzer torte, plum and fig sauce flavors carried by creamy-textured tannins. Ends with notes of warm fruitcake and melted red licorice. Drink now through 2017. 400 cases made.
91 Points, Wine Spectator, October 2011
Embracing the Power of Gigondas, NY Times, February 13, 2012
label / tech sheet / shelf talker
Gigondas 2010
Ruby-red. Ripe dark berry and cherry aromas are complemented by a suave floral quality. Youthful black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors show very good depth and become livelier with air. Finishes, lucid, sappy and long, leaving a refreshingly bitter cherry pit note behind.
90-92 Points, Josh Raynolds, International Wine Cellars, Feb 2012
Chateauneuf du Pape 2009
The grapes for this blend come from all around the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape as well as some parts of the four neighboring communes of Bédarrides, Courthézon, Orange and Sorgues, which have soils of similar composition, featuring soils of varying depths and stoniness, composed is mainly made up of large round quartz stones (galets roulés) mixed with sandy red clay. The is the driest region of the Côtes du Rhône, it enjoys the prevailing breezes of the Mistral and approximately 2,800 hours of sunshine per year. The heat of the day is stored by the large stones and released at night. When the Papacy was established in Avignon in the 14th Century, Châteauneuf-du-Pape was selected to be the Pope’s summer residence. The seven successive Popes encouraged wine production and the expansion of the vineyards. The strict way in which wine has been produced has remained a constant factor throughout the history of these vineyards, and formed the basis for certain provisions when the A.O.C legislation was drawn up. Châteauneuf-du-Pape was consecrated an A.O.C. in 1936. The Syrah vines are trained in the Guyot style, whereas the other grape varieties are trained en goblet or bush trained with a maximum of 6 spurs and 2 eyes per spur, with a total of 15 eyes per vine in addition to the bourillon or first small fertile bud. The use of wire or stakes is forbidden.
Aromas of black fruits (blackcurrant, blackberry), notes of spices and scrub. Suave and mineral, with a finish of wild berries (wild strawberry, blackcurrant…).
The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape has oodles of black raspberry and kirsch notes intermixed with roasted Provencal herbs, licorice, and spice box. Medium to full bodied, dense, and impeccably well-made, the brilliant 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Lieu-Dit Pignan, which comes from five acres in this sector cropped at 20 hectoliters per hectare, is super. Notes of black cherry marmalade, plum sauce, lavender, and licorice jump from the glass of this dark ruby wine. The wine has terrific texture, density, and a medium to full-bodied, rich mouthfeel. It should drink well for at least a decade or more.
90-92 Points, Wine Advocate, October 2011
Fresh and rounded in feel, with a medium-weight core of dark plum, black cherry and roasted tobacco flavors woven with dark tea and fruitcake notes. The pure, unadorned finish lets a mineral edge hang. Drink now through 2017.
90 Points, Wine Spectator, November 2011
label / tech sheet / shelf talker
Chateauneuf du Pape 2010
“The tank-aged 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape reveals lots of raspberry and black cherry fruit, notions of kirsch, herbs and pepper, and an elegant, medium-bodied style. It is meant to be consumed in its first 7-8 years of life.”
Wine Advocate, October 2011
Bright ruby. Youthful aromas of red berries and cherry skin, anise and white pepper, with a subtle note of dried flowers. Juicy, fresh and focused, with intense but slow-to-unfold red fruit flavors. Displays impressive energy on the persistent finish.
90-92 Points, Josh Raynolds, International Wine Cellars, Feb 2012
Chateauneuf du Pape “Lie-dit Pignan” 2009
Grape Varieties: Grenache. Colour: Intense crimson colour. Nose: Aromas of red fruits (cherry, raspberry), liquorice and cedar. Palate: The attack is rich and powerful, with elegant tannins and a great minerality.
Pierre-Henri Morel, who works with Michel Chapoutier, has his own estate in the southern Rhone, and these wines all emerge from his holdings and/or purchases. Obviously, the 2008s have to take a backseat to the 2009 bottlings, but I thought the wines fared well for such a tough vintage.
92-94 Points, Wine Advocate, October 2011
This fleshy red is packed, showing dark roasted plum, fig and black currant paste fruit flavors, with lots of melted licorice and roasted apple wood notes. The grippy plum skin frame on the finish shows ambitious extraction, but the length is there. Best from 2012 through 2020.
91 Points, Wine Spectator, November 2011
label /tech sheet / shelf talker
Chateauneuf du Pape “Lie-dit Pignan” 2010
“From sandy soils, the deep ruby/purple-colored, medium to full-bodied 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Lieu-Dit Pignan (100% Grenache) possesses beautiful notes of black cherries, jammy strawberries, kirsch, licorice and spring flowers. Similar to a very good vintage of Rayas, it should drink nicely for 10-12+ years.”
- 91 Points, Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, October 2011
Glass-staining ruby. Creme de framboise, Asian spices and licorice on the highly perfumed nose. Spicy and lively, offering vibrant red fruit flavors and notes of candied lavender and gingerbread. An exotic, elegant Chateauneuf that finishes with excellent clarity, focus and floral-driven persistence.
91-93 Points, Josh Raynolds, International Wine Cellars, Feb 2012