The 2019 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Charrières, a holding that reflected the Lécheneaut family's origin in this village, exhibits scents of raspberries and plums mingled with woodsmoke, spices and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and charming, it's bright and succulent, with a fleshy core of fruit and fine, powdery tannins.

The 2011 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Charrieres, like Lechenaut’s other 2011s, displays too much wood on the nose that renders it rather predictable and denudes it of a sense of place. The palate is sweet and ripe on the entry, but it seems rather forced and is missing tension and poise, even a sense of “Pinote” on the finish. Drink now-2016. Domaine Lecheneaut own a scattering of parcels across the Cotes de Nuits since Fernand Lecheneaut acquired the holdings back in the 1960s. Since 1985, after their father fell ill, brothers Vincent and Philippe Lecheneaut have run the winery in Nuits-St.-Georges. They farm around 10-hectares of vine, a majority Pinot Noir, including prized vines in Clos de la Roche. The tenets here are for most bunches to be stemmed, depending on the quality of fruit, and aging in Francois Freres oak (up to half new), even for the village crus. As I am accustomed to doing, I appraised the wines before researching their elevage, and time and time again I noted a propensity for the wood to dominate these wines and denude them of personality and individuality. That was frustrating because when I did encounter a cuvee where the wood was singing from the same hymn sheet as the fruit, i.e., the Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, it stuck out like a sore thumb and exuded appealing fruit character, fine balance and a comparatively character-filled finish. Repeating my sentiment toward Maison Ambroise, if that new oak can be dialed down a little, then I am certain that Lecheneaut’s wines would sing more brightly. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083

The Lecheneaut brothers- 2008 Morey-St.-Denis Les Charrieres originates in a parcel next to their Clos des Ormes inherited from their grandfather but then replanted, and whose vines - now age 20 - they feel are producing fruit worthy of separately showcasing. The soil here is thinner, pebblier, and more porous than in the Clos des Ormes, all of which would seem like a good thing in the wet 2008 vintage. Licorice and otherwise bitter, resinous herbal essences mingle with dried cherries and cranberries on the nose and on a sappy, subtly oily, well-concentrated palate, its underlying tannins slightly reinforced by the effect of oak. This finishes with impressive persistence and ripeness of fruit flavors, if a certain opacity and bitterness. Like the corresponding Clos des Ormes, I would anticipate its being worth following for 6-8 years but plan to revisit and reevaluate in 2-3. Vincent and Philippe Lecheneaut's 2008s had with three exceptions been assembled when I tasted them late last winter, but their malos had been extremely protracted and bottling was due to be later than usual. The brothers employed their usual contingent of new wood but backed-off somewhat on the inclusion of stems (employed at low level even in the village wines) and on pigeage, professing overall satisfaction with a vintage in which they testified to considerable nail-biting in the race between ripeness and rot, but whose fruit required, they said, less sorting than had that of 2007. I found the results here from 2008 on the whole formidably-concentrated but awkwardly marked by their wood and disappointingly lacking in charm or primary juiciness. The several 2007s I was able to taste point in the direction of more harmony and fun-in-drinking, and the Lecheneauts indicated that on the whole they find their 2007s more sweetly-fruited than their 2006s, which they suggest represents a role-reversal from those collections tasted in barrel. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083