Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Cailloux 2023 (3000ml)

Most of Daniel Bouland’s old bush vines are rooted in the Morgon climat of Corcelette, in hilly Haut-Morgon to the northwest of the appellation. Within this area, there are several lieux-dits that Bouland now bottles separately, and Bellevue is one of these. It’s a particularly stony (cailloux means stones) southeast-facing site, with plenty of schist running through the granitic, sandy base soil, much like in Côte du Py. The plethora of rock on the surface traps and radiates warmth, and, as a result, this is typically Bouland’s earliest-ripening site. The vines were planted in three stages in 1937, 1951 and 1967.

This cuvée is largely made the same way as the Bellevue Sable wine—natural, whole-bunch ferment and no fining—though the vines are on different rootstocks (420A rootstock in this case, specifically designed for terroirs that are very stony and have no topsoil). Also, the vines are a touch older than in the Sable cuvée below. It’s another deep, inky expression of Morgon with layers of creamy red cherry and blue fruit flecked by blue flowers, graphite and the earthy spice of the vintage. It has more pucker and tightening tannin at this stage than the broader Sable cuvée below.