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Domaine Denis Mortet

Arnaud Mortet is making better wines than ever. Pulling up at his winery at the dangerous crossroads just outside the village where nobody quite knows who has the right of way, I was met by a team of workers completing the final stages of a new winery that now includes a tasting room and refurbished reception area. Mortet presides over an enviable set of vineyards, including a number of Premier and Grand Crus. Whereas in the past I found some wines excessively oaked, as evinced by a vertical I participated in a couple of years ago, nowadays the wines mirror those of Trapet: much more precise, detailed and mineral-driven, much more expressive of their terroirs.

“The harvest began on September 6 and finished about eight days later. In 2017 we conducted a large green harvest as the yields were too high after the previous year. I removed a lot of bunches. In Gevrey-Chambertin the yields were around 46 to 47hl/ha. After the green harvest we only needed to take out about 1% of the crop in September. We chaptalised some of the cuvées from 13.0° to 13.5° but I prefer to pick early to avoid any excessive alcohol. I consider 2017 to be classic Burgundy. I love the fruit and the tannins. It is similar to 2016 but with normal yields.”

I asked Mortet about his approach to whole bunches addition, an area of particular interest to me at the moment, and whether he adds the entire bunch into the vat or whether he cuts out the main stem. “Yes, we cut out the main stem like Lalou Bize-Leroy,” he explained. “We started doing this with the Bonnes-Mares in 2015 and now we do it for all the vineyards, including in 2017. But it is very labor-intensive. It takes four people to fill one barrel in one hour.”

As in the previous three vintages, I am deeply impressed by the potential of Mortet’s wines. There is a brightness and sense of energy in nearly every cuvée, demonstrating clever use of both whole bunch and new oak that allows each vineyard to express its own character. Readers will note that I include additional wines from Mortet’s namesake négoce operation, which confusingly means that there are two Lavaux Saint-Jacques bearing the Mortet name. I actually preferred the négoce version under Arnaud Mortet, since the whole bunch contribution adds another dimension, a view Mortet concurs with. There were a couple that just missed the mark – perhaps the Gevrey La Perrière was too sweet for my liking – but otherwise 2017 is another exemplary set from what is fast becoming one of the appellation’s most respected winemakers.

From 2017 Burgundy: A Modern Classic (Jan 2019) by Neal Martin

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2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

Color: Red

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Domaine Denis Mortet

2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

2017 Bourgogne Rouge

2017 Chambertin Grand Cru

2017 Chambolle-Musigny Aux Beaux Bruns 1er Cru

2017 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

2017 Fixin Village

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champonnet 1er Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux 1er Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Cinq Terroirs

2017 Marsannay Les Longeroies

2017 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Village

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin La Perrière 1er Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru

2017 Echézeaux Grand Cru

2017 Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru

2017 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

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