Les Blanchards is a Premier Cru climat on the outskirts of Morey-Saint-Denis village in the Cote de Nuits. Like much of this part of Burgundy, the vineyard is planted entirely to Pinot Noir, which is suited to the terroir here. Les Blanchards Premier Cru wines are medium bodied with lush fruit characters and good structure.
The vineyard is one of several that lie below Morey-Saint-Denis village on the slopes of the Cote d'Or, just above where the land flattens out into village-level vineyards. These Premier Cru vineyards (which also include La Riotte and Clos Sorbes) are not as highly regarded as Clos des Ormes or Les Millandes to the north, and the wines have a slightly more rustic quality to them.
Les Blanchards faces toward the east, with a gentle gradient that gives an efficient exposure toward the morning sun. This counters the cool Burgundy climate, giving grapes the chance to reach optimum ripeness before harvest. Cooler nights mean that acidity is retained in the grapes as well, which ultimately leads to wines with a balance of freshness and fruit complexity.
The soils here are dominated by rocky limestone with a high proportion of clay. Vines are forced to work hard to extract moisture from these soils and thus forgo leafy vegetation growth in order to produce high-quality berries. Generally speaking, soil in Les Blanchards is deeper and slightly richer than in the vineyards higher on the Cote d'Or, like the Clos de Lambrays Grand Cru climat.
Les Blanchards was once known for its white wines based on Chardonnay and Aligote. It has been suggested that the vineyard's name refers to this fact: blanche is the French word for "white".
