2007 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

Arnaud Mortet was only able to show me a few of his 2008s, as the malolactic fermentations here were extremely late, but he is clearly a fan of the vintage after having done yeoman's work in the vines. He carried out two green harvests, one in mid-July and the other at the end of August, and eventually picked fruit with what he described as ripe tannins. He doesn't do a heavy extraction in general, relying more on pumpovers than punchdowns, but was especially gentle with the 2008s, as he did not want to extract too much tannin. The wines, he believes, will be silky, elegant and classic.

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.