Characteristics and tasting notes of the Morey-Saint-Denis 1er cru "Les Millandes" 2020 Sérafin Père & Fils

Tasting

Color

The color displays a clear ruby red hue with garnet and violet highlights, consistent with a balanced extraction rather than an overly dense or opaque pinot noir. The hue is bright and limpid, reflecting a careful, unfiltered elevage.

Nose

The nose opens on fresh red fruit aromas of cherry, raspberry, and strawberry, layered with delicate floral notes of violet and rose. Subtle spice and gently integrated oak nuances, such as light vanilla and toast, complete the aromatic profile, with the overall structure suggesting further development toward secondary notes with time in bottle.

Palate

The palate shows a silky attack followed by an elegant yet firm body, supported by fine, well-knit tannins. Fresh acidity carries the fruit through to a long finish, where red fruit and spice notes continue to linger.

Food and wine pairings

This Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru "Les Millandes" 2020 pairs well with grilled or roasted red meats, as well as more refined poultry dishes such as pigeon or guinea fowl. It also suits traditional Burgundian preparations like coq au vin, where its structure can stand up to the richness of the sauce without being overwhelmed.

Serving and cellaring

This Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru "Les Millandes" 2020 is best served slightly below room temperature, which allows its aromatic layers to unfold fully. Decanting beforehand can help soften the young tannins and open the bouquet. Part of each vintage is traditionally kept at the estate to continue aging in bottle before release, reflecting Sérafin Père & Fils's approach of offering wines that already carry some bottle maturity.

Sérafin Père & Fils' Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru "Les Millandes": Structure and Finesse from the Côte de Nuits

The Estate

Sérafin Père & Fils is a family domaine founded in the 1950s in Gevrey-Chambertin, in the heart of Burgundy's Côte de Nuits. Its vineyard holdings, covering roughly 5.5 to 6 hectares across Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, and Morey-Saint-Denis, rely on old vines and organic farming practices, though without formal certification. Today the estate is run by Karine Sérafin and her cousin Frédérique Goulley, the third generation of the family, who oversee the commercial and technical sides of the domaine respectively. Production remains limited, reflecting a deliberately artisanal and confidential approach to winemaking.

The Vineyard

The grapes for this wine come from the Les Millandes climat, a premier cru vineyard located in Morey-Saint-Denis, a village set between Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny on the Côte de Nuits. The soils here combine clay and limestone with stony elements that favor good drainage, a composition typical of the most qualitative premier cru sites in the appellation. These parcels were added to the estate's holdings in the 1990s and are tended using organic farming methods, without synthetic herbicides or fertilizers, alongside old vines inherited from previous generations of the Sérafin family.

The Vintage

The 2020 vintage in the Côte de Nuits was marked by an early, warm, and generally dry growing season, leading to an early harvest. These conditions allowed the pinot noir grapes to reach excellent phenolic ripeness, producing fruit with good concentration while retaining sufficient natural acidity to preserve balance in the finished wines.

Winemaking and aging

The grapes destined for Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru "Les Millandes" 2020 are fully destemmed before fermentation, followed by regular punching down of the cap to extract color, tannin, and aromatic compounds while carefully monitoring temperature. The wine is then aged in oak barrels, with close to half new wood, for an extended period that allows the structure to soften and the fruit to integrate with the oak. No fining or filtration is applied before bottling, preserving the wine's natural texture and aromatic depth.

Grape Varieties

This wine is produced from 100% pinot noir, the signature grape of the Côte de Nuits and the sole variety used across Sérafin Père & Fils's red Burgundy appellations.