2010 Lapierre Morgon: "S" vs "N" ( New Article posted by Berry Crawford)

There has been a new article or blog post on Wine Berserkers titled ‘2010 Lapierre Morgon: “S” vs “N”’ by Berry Crawford

Click http://wineberserkers.com/content/?p=1047 to view the entire article. The full text is also incuded below.


For those that do not know Lapierre makes a sulfur and non-sulfur version of their Morgan (maybe other cuvees too?). I bought a bottle of each and was interested in trying them side by side.

When I first opened them they both had reduction with The “N” (non-sulfur) version having more but the “S” version held the reduction longer and I even had one of those “is this brett or reduction?” type of quandaries for a while. With a number of hours of air the reduction has blown off each and I feel I can compare them.

All in all they are not that far apart. Aromatically the “N” version is “cooler”, more floral and more relaxed in profile where the “S” is a bit more subdued yet perhaps not as elegant. Flavor and mouthfeel wise the “N” is more floral, gentle, succulent and spherical and the “S” a bit more intense and black cherry driven but not as silky and lacey. The “S” is warmer in nature. Of course I’m looking for differences and the delta is not large. Overall I like cool, relaxed, silky and integrated nature of the “N” better. Both are drinking fantastic though.

Make sure you give either of these enough air. Reading through the cellar tracker notes its clear that a lot of people tried to pop and pour these and IMO didn’t get to drink them at their best at this stage.

Regarding the brett/reduction quandary, after enough air neither has reduction and they seem totally pure and clean. More and more I wonder if the “gang of four make bretty wines” reputation is from people mistaking reduction for brett. I don’t say this judgmentally because even knowing that this mistake can be made I was having a hard time determining what was going on here until I gave them enough time to blow off. Im not saying these non or low sulfur wines never get brett blooms but I suspect the reputations are exaggerated based on the reduced state these wines are in when they are opened.


Link to article: http://wineberserkers.com/content/?p=1047