Morlet, Coeur De Vallée - Napa Valley 2018

Luc and Jodie Morlet: A heartfelt journey in Napa

Luc and Jodie Morlet craft exceptional terroir-driven wines from the Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast. Their historic winery, located in St. Helena, serves as the heart of their operations, while their "Cœur de Vallée" vineyard, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, is nestled in Oakville, in the heart of Napa Valley.

Luc Morlet, who hails from France, is highly praised by renowned critics such as Robert M. Parker Jr. and Jeb Dunnuck for his extraordinary ability to blend French winemaking expertise with the distinct character of Californian fruit.

Luc's unwavering commitment to quality and his low-intervention winemaking approach result in wines that are powerful yet refined, each with a unique personality and exceptional aging potential.

The 2018 Vintage

The remarkably steady and gentle 2018 growing season created ideal conditions for a superb vintage. Beginning with a mild spring, a late bloom generated uniform grape clusters. Warm temperatures, without any heat spells, led to a cooler-than-average ripening season, which allowed for an extended hang time during the ripening process. Fully developed flavors were clearly noticeable at lower sugar levels.

Tasting notes:

“Deep garnet-purple, the 2018 ‘Coeur de Vallée’ reveals wonderful notes of crushed blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries and crème de cassis, with hints of flowery incense, Chinese five spice and dried tobacco. Full-bodied, seamless and opulent, the wine boasts a multi-layered fruited palate supported by velvety tannins. Flawlessly balanced, this beautiful wine is rich and powerful, yet weightless, with an incredibly long finish.” – Luc Morlet

matthewjukes.com

18,5

byMatthew Jukesthe9/17/2025

This wine is three years older than last year’s release, and it is the first vintage of Coeur de Vallée that was made using all estate fruit. Given that it is four years older than most of the other wines in this collection, it has a completely different stance on the palate, and it is not as rich or juicy as the others, but it’s more refreshing and actively tannic, too. This is a beautiful wine.

The Drinks Business

byColin Haythe8/27/2025

(Oakville, Napa Valley; 97% Cabernet Sauvignon; 3% Cabernet Franc; 15.5% alcohol; aged 16 months in French oak, 85% of which was new; tasted in person with Luc Morley at the CVBG press tasting; essentially the last part of the Oakville Valley to be planted though historically vines had been grown there; a terroir of gravel on a very fine-grained loamy subsoil, the alluvial deposits washed down from the Kalon Creek; picked four rows at a time with a team of 8 at night; naturally fermented in 600-litre French oak puncheons; unfined and unfiltered; 2007 was the first vintage here). Beautifully crystalline with that lovely ‘Morlet’ hint of cordite and struck match, also flint on flint! Sparky! Black cherry. Blueberry. Black raspberry. Cassis. Goji berry. A hint of Kirsch. Beeswax. A suggestion of tobacco leaf. Bay leaf too. There’s a lovely classical cedar note too. Pink rose petals. A little lily of the valley. Saffron. Dark chocolate-coated violets. Walnut oil. And that’s just the aromatics! This is incredibly spherical at the core. Dense and compact but not excessively so. It’s reminiscent of the 2020, if perhaps a little cooler at the core and it gives the impression of having a little less alcohol (though we’re still at 15.5%). Pencil shavings reinforce the sense of classicism here. This is a very Bordeaux-styled Napa! Texturally sublime. This is layered, but it’s actually more like the concentric circles of the cross-section of the old oak tree – with greater and greater density towards the centre! Dark at the core. There’s perhaps a little more residual oak than in the most recent vintages I’ve tasted at this stage. But the quality of the tannins is incredible and the aging potential colossal.

Jamessuckling.com

byJim Gordonthe7/31/2025

An impressively concentrated and structured red from a difficult vintage in Napa Valley. This one rises above the wildfire-smoke issues, showing powerful black-cherry, dried-blueberry and spearmint flavors and a creamy texture. Drinkable now and best from 2030.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

byJane Ansonthe7/8/2025

Bitter black chocolate, powerful, concentrated, red pepper spices, tapenade, red liquorice, baking spice, cassis. Always an extremely impressive wine that has real uplift and power, and a ton of Napa generosity. Mature and ready to drink, but will easily hold for another decade or more. 100% new oak in 600l casks. Unfiltered and unfined. Harvest October 11 to 18, from a season that allowed for long, slow ripening. Daughter Clare Morlet is now joining the estate, fresh from her masters in science and business and has been working with them for past 12 months. Released in the States previously, this is the first release in Europe.

Decanter.com

byGeorgina Hindlethe7/7/2025

Such a delicious wine from Luc Morlet, the first vintage to use entirely estate-grown fruit. Caramel, toasted edges, fragrant and highly scented, perfumed with toasted edges. Strawberries, ripe and fragrant. Liquorice, graphite and blueberries, the nose is really quite compelling. Subtle and so seductive in a quiet way. Really gentle and lightly footed. There's concentration and complexity but this has lost its baby fat and any pent up power and has started to relax and give lots of enjoyment. Long but not too much, it’s graceful and effortless. The texture is incredible - a touch of crispness, flesh and grip with some warming spice and heat towards the finish too. Leave to air and enjoy. Starting to really hit its stride but will continue to age beautifully. It’s fiery but delivered so excellently. A gourmet wine, have with food and a cold winter’s night.

Decanter.com

byJonathan Cristaldithe1/25/2025

This marks the first vintage of this wine made entirely from the Morlet family’s own site, located across the road from To Kalon and just south of the Beckstoffer To Kalon blocks. Sourced from the third leaf of this vineyard, the wine is beautifully fragrant, sophisticated, stylish, and polished. It is wonderfully expressive and features vibrant and pliant tannins nuanced by red- and black-toned saline-ripe fruit layered with green tobacco. You’d be hard-pressed to believe this wine does not come from Beckstoffer To Kalon but rather from the Morlet family’s 10.11-hectare property, acquired in 2015. With the To Kalon Creek running through it and its location just south of the Beckstoffer site, Morlet describes this low-vigour vineyard as consisting of 40–60% well-draining gravel, planted with two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Cabernet Franc on Bale series soil, which is similar to To Kalon.

Wine Advocate

byJoe Czerwinskithe10/17/2024

The first vintage to come entirely from Morlet's own vineyard, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Vallee features loads of mixed red and blue fruit. A blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc, it's full-bodied and plush yet nicely balanced and bright, with fine freshness and verve, framed by soft tannins. Perhaps it's a touch less concentrated than some other vintages, but it's absolutely charming and delicious.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

byJane Ansonthe11/8/2022

Bursting with damson, black cherry, mocha, coffee bean, mint, violet, velvety but linear tannins, growing slowly in power through the glass. At this point fully estate grown from 10ha of vines (planted in 2007) on the Oakville bench, with To Kalon creek running right through the estate, planted to Cabernet Franc (2 blocks) and Cabernet Sauvingon (4 blocks). Native yeast, unfined unfiltered. 85% new oak, 600l oak casks for 2/3 of ageing, with the rest in stainless steel. To be released through the Place de Bordeaux in 2023.

Wine Spectator

byJames Molesworththe12/31/2021

Offers textbook AVA notes of menthol, bay leaf and warm loam, mixed with a lush wave of dark currant and plum fruit flavors. The long finish pulls everything together steadily and assuredly, set against a smoldering alder backdrop. Best from 2022 through 2034. 300 cases made.

Vinous

byAntonio Gallonithe2/1/2021

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Valle is a gracious, elegant wine. Silky tannins and mid-weight structure give the 2018 superb polish. Sweet florals and spices are laced into a core of inky red/purplish berry fruit. This is an especially understated vintage for the Coeur de Valle, but all the elements are so impeccably balanced. This is a remarkable wine for a vineyard that were just four years old at the time.

Information:	Details:
Couleur	Rouge
Cépages	Cabernet Sauvignon 97 % Cabernet Franc 3 %
Appellation	Napa Valley
Millesime	2018
Contenance	Bouteille (75 cl)

Information:

Details:

Couleur

Rouge

Cépages

Cabernet Sauvignon 97 %
Cabernet Franc 3 %

Appellation

Napa Valley

Millesime

2018

Contenance

Bouteille (75 cl)

Un repas	Autour du repas
Un cadeau	Faire une découverte !

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Morlet, Coeur De Vallée - Napa Valley 2018

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