Visit with François Morissette at Pearl Morissette

In the afternoon, while we were in our room at the Inn, we received a phone call from François Morissette. Yeay! We want to meet François because he is making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Ontario's Jordan on the Bench. We knew that François spent time in the Cote d’Or working for Frédéric Mugnier, a highly respected grower based in Chambolle-Musigny, whose vineyards produce some of the world's most coveted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. When we got in our car and punched in the location, the Garmin asked, "Walk or drive". Ha ha ha. We chose to drive. We first went into the wrong driveway and were politely told, try the other driveway and there we met François.

True to Burgundian viticulture, François has planted his Pinot Noir using a relatively tight 3x4 foot spacing. In order to manage the 4 feet between rows, François has this special tractor, which can take care of two rows in a single pass. He informed us that if we would like one of these, he would be the sales contact. We told him about the tall grafted vines that we had ordered from Mercier and he was interested in hearing why we chose to get tall grafted vines.

We also asked François about the possibility of growing Pinot Noir in Connecticut. François thought that it should be possible, but it would be up to us. François said that he has learned that growing Pinot Noir in Ontario is vastly different from growing Pinot Noir in Burgundy. He praised Southbrook, especially vineyard manager Scott, whose vineyards are biodynamically farmed. François treated us to barrel tastings of his wines. We found his 2011 Cabernet Franc to be sublime! From meeting all these people, who are generously sharing with us their winemaking techniques, we are learning that there is no recipe for making quality wine. The vintage will tell you what you need to do to cajole your grapes into the best expression of that year.