1997 Gevrey-Chambertin Motrot

"I'm not a rocket scientist when it comes to vinification," admits Denis Mortet. "The quality of my wines is a function of the grapes, not the work in the winery. I get my extraction in the vines, very little through vinification." Mortet went for ampleur and aromatic complexity in '98, for finesse over sheer extraction. He did a rather gentle pigeage and tried to extend the fermentations in order to avoid getting hard tannins. Mortet added leaf-pulling to his repertoire of viticultural techniques in '97 and did it again in '98 in order to get riper fruit earlier. "I had five guys out in Lavaux Saint-Jacques the Friday before the harvest, pulling off leaves on the south side of the vines in order to get more sun on the grapes," said Mortet. Potential alcohols in '98 ranged from 12.2% to as high as 13.6%. Mortet carried out a pre-fermentation cold soak lasting seven to nine days. All of the '98s noted below are aging in 100% new oak.

Since the early 1990s, Mortet has become a Gevrey superstar following extensive work in the vineyards aimed at cutting yields and getting riper fruit earlier. Mortet says he was among the earlier harvesters in Gevrey in '97 yet still had grape sugars so high that he did not have to chaptalize three quarters of his cuves At the level of the crus, yields were in the very low 25 to 32 hectoliters per hectare range. Mortet admits to having done some acidification at the beginning of cuvaison but says that, in general, the coloring matter, tannins and texture of the '97s compensated for any dearth of acidity. As Mortet was in a position to control the temperature of his cuverie for the first time in '97, he was thus able to do five to seven days of cold maceration prior to the onset of fermentation. Still, the wines appeared a bit meager and light in color after they were removed from the vats, and Mortet feels they have benefitted immensely by being aged on as much of the lees as possible. For the first time, Mortet used only barrels from Francois Freres for his '97s, and he continues to increase the percentage of Troncais oak. In this very cold cellar, the '97s were in the process of going into a shell in late January and thus were a challenge to taste. But they are impressive.