Amiot Morey-St-Denis 1er “Ruchots” 2023

Léon Amiot is first and foremost a farmer. A cheerful twentysomething with a quick smile and friendly demeanor, he’s traveled the world gaining extensive viticultural experience, and has brought real energy and renewed focus to his family’s tiny 5-hectare gem of an estate in Morey-St-Denis. He’s officially organic as of this year, but has already started the process of biodynamic certification. He has abandoned herbicides, planted cover crops, and this year begins an agroforestry project in the name of vineyard biodiversity.

Ruchots was a real stunner this year, very ripe and expressive with loads of lush, inky fruit. It’s got the extraction and length to match. Léon’s vines here cover a wide swath of the terroir within the vineyard, and he credits the diversity of soils with the complexity of the wine. He’s able to blend elegant juice from up-slope stony sectors with rich juice from down-slope clay-rich soils; and the resulting wine has nearly unmatched complexity for its level.