Denis Mortet Grand Cru ‘Bonnes Mares’ 2018

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

This comes from two parcels of old vines that total 35 ares (0.35 of a hectare). The vines are 60 years old and most are rooted in the terres blanches soils at the heart of the vineyard, with a smaller millerandée parcel closer to the village. Mortet has replanted 600 vines and this, coupled with his low yields, means that he has only three (Cavin Aphrodite) barrels to sell.

This vintage has seen 80% new oak, with the depth of the wine having soaked it all up when we tasted in the cellar. If I remember correctly, this was 50% hand-destemmed, but I cannot find the details in my notes. It seemed a much darker, more brooding Grand Cru at the time but that’s contradicted by the notes below. Still, everyone agrees on the quality at least!

“Arnaud Mortet is making better wines than ever… 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. 2017 is another exemplary set from what is fast becoming one of the appellation’s most respected winemakers.” Neal Martin, Vinous 

“The wines are undeniably lovely, with the flesh and charm to drink well in their youth but the concentration and satiny structure to age. They’re also impressively consistent. If Mortet can sustain the viticultural attention to detail that was his father’s calling card across the entire breadth of his growing palette of appellations, then this domaine’s position among the greats of the Côte de Nuits will be assured.” William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

About Domaine Denis Mortet

Charles Mortet set up his estate in 1956 with a single hectare of vines. True to the tradition in Burgundy, he sold most of his production to merchant houses. In 1978 Denis joined his father, along with his wife Laurence. They were respectively 22 and 20 years old at the time. As Laurence’s family were farmers, she quickly took to working in the vineyard to her great satisfaction. Little by little, Denis developed bottled wine sales.

He succeeded his father in 1993 and created Domaine Denis Mortet. At the time it represented some 4.5 hectares within the districts of Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot – but this was just the start to the establishment’s vineyard. In 1993 the company acquired the parcels of the Premier Cru Lavaux Saint-Jacques in Gevrey-Chambertin, as well as vineyard plots in Motrot, in Vellé, in Champs, and La Côte des Longeroies in Marsannay. In 1997 it purchased the district area, La Combe du Dessus. This was followed in 1999 by the acquisition of the vineyard of Chambertin Grand Cru. And of Premier Cru parcels and the Derée locality in 2000. At present, the estate comprises 11.2 hectares. In 2000 Denis’ son, Arnaud entered the company. He and his mother have been in charge since 2005.

A man of the vineyards, Arnaud’s “knack”, as critic David Schildknecht recently put it, is to be driven to produce perfect Pinot fruit from meticulously tended vineyards. He is without question one of the finest growers of the entire Côte (many of his colleagues acknowledge as much) and as great wines are the products of great fruit, it is no coincidence that he is producing some of the finest wines in Burgundy today. There is no doubt that the wines are more refined than those produced while his father was alive, yet they share the same intensity and potential longevity.

Arnaud is continuing Denis’ dream of producing more refined wines: openly getting closer stylistically to the wines of his uncle, Charles Rousseau, without sacrificing depth and intensity or consistency across the range (which Rousseau has often lacked). Denis was already “backing off” the extraction in the pursuit of greater elegance but Arnaud is taking this even further, not only via shorter and gentler macerations, but also by reducing the percentage of new oak used. At the same time the vineyard work chez Mortet is at the very highest level. Horse is now used to plough all 1er and Grand Cru vineyards (in order to minimise soil compaction) and organic/biodynamic practice is now being trialed in these sites. Machines are no longer used in any sites and all the work, including spraying copper/sulphur which is done via backpack.

The yields remain very low (much lower than Rousseau for example) and, according to my understanding, the fruit selection (triage) is also much more severe. Lower yields and stricter triage will always result in richer, more intense wines, at least when the wines are young.

Mortet’s vineyards are things of beauty. Every vine is tended by hand and leaves are removed if damaged in any way. The Allen Meadows notes above comments on the renown that Arnaud Mortet enjoys amongst his peers for his vineyard work. Everyone who knows Arnaud is well aware that he is a perfectionist by nature and that he is driven by the desire to honour his father’s legacy. He has made a wonderful start. The continued evolution of Domaine Denis Mortet is certainly going to be very exciting to watch (and taste!)

The 2018 Vintage by Denis Mortet

From Burghound:

With respect to the 2018 growing season Arnaud Mortet noted that “I have never had to drop so much fruit in my life. The bud burst was extraordinary and it became clear rapidly that we would have neither the concentration nor the phenolic maturity so we started the process of a huge green harvest. Otherwise the season was relatively easy to manage save perhaps for worrying over the lack of rain as the summer was very hot and dry. I chose to begin picking on the 3rd of September as the sugars were beginning to really shoot up so my picking teams harvested very fast. Other than the fact that it was extremely hot, they were able to pick fast as berry maturities were uniform and the fruit was spotless so there was almost no sorting necessary. But I was worried that the fermentations would begin too rapidly so I hired refrigerated trucks to follow the pickers. It was expensive but effective as it kept the fruit from starting to ferment before it was even in the fermenters! Despite all of the green harvest that we did, the yields were still surprising because, for example, my Gevrey villages wines averaged 45 hl/ha. This is more than I shoot for but what was so surprising was what we call the rendements en jus, or the quantity of juice that was in the berries. I am really thankful that we picked when we did and how we did as potential alcohols came in between 13.1 and 13.7%, which is perhaps a little high but still reasonable. I had no trouble with the fermentation and made no additions of any kind. I used between 30 and 40% whole clusters for the premiers crus but with the large center stem cut out. I also vinified very softly because even though the volumes were higher than normal, the skins were thick and gave a relatively high solid to liquid ratio so it would have been very easy to make extremely tannic wines. As to the style of the 2018s, they’re definitely on the riper side but they retain good freshness and even good terroir transparency so I am proud of the results.”

Where in the World are They?

Denis Mortet now run by son Arnaud have plantings throughout the Côte de Nuits. The Grand Cru Bonnes Mares is located in the Village Chambolle-Musigny.