2006 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

Arnaud Mortet, who vinified on his own for the first time in 2006, renewed his reception equipment in 2008. Now he does not have to crush the grapes, and this enabled him to do a slower fermentation; he assumes this will result in fruitier wines. The '07 malos here were very late, ending mostly in October, and a couple of cuvees (the Bourgogne Rouge and the Marsannay) hadn't even started! Mortet describes 2007 as a bit denser than 2006. The hail in 2006 resulted in less-ripe tannins in parts of Gevrey-Chambertin. In 2007, said Mortet, the tannins are more enrobed; grape sugars were lower (he told me he chaptalized his wines between a half and a full degree) but the skins were dark and ripe and could support more extraction.

Arnaud Mortet vinified on his own in 2006, and despite the challenges of the year he has some highly successful wines in the works. He's also quite enthusiastic about the young 2007s, which he describes as denser than the 2006s. Mortet, who told me he has been doing less extraction in general than his late father Denis, vinified for finesse in 2006 due to the hail, which he said was more of an issue on the Brochon side of the village. "The hail gave more aggressive tannins; it resulted in less phenolic maturity. And I didn't want to make dry wines," he explained. The grand crus here are still aged in 100% new oak, but the village wines get more like 60%. With 2006, Mortet has made the decision to combine his various parcels of Gevrey villages into a regular and an old-vines bottling.