2018 Bourgogne Rouge, Cuvée de Noble Souche, Domaine Denis Mortet

2018 Bourgogne Rouge, Cuvée de Noble Souche, Domaine Denis Mortet

Product: 20181049017
 
2018 Bourgogne Rouge, Cuvée de Noble Souche, Domaine Denis Mortet

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Description

As ever, this wine comes from a parcel which is planted at 400 metres’ altitude in the village of Daix, to the north of Dijon. The cooler microclimate was a real benefit in 2018, giving a balancing freshness to the rich, generous red fruit. All de-stemmed and with 20% new oak, this is packed with crunchy red-berry fruit, wrapped up in silky, caressing tannins. Drink 2021-2026.

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Critics reviews

Jasper Morris MW90/100

The vines are grown on the other side of Dijon in a village called Daix. Arnaud Mortet enthuses about the location, red earth on very limestone rock, windy healthy plateau. Fine fresh purple with a really elegant and fresh bouquet, delicious! Very persistent.

Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy (November 2019)

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Wine Advocate88/100

Bursting with aromas of sweet berries, cherries and a deft touch of spicy oak, the 2018 Bourgogne Cuvée de Noble Souche is medium-bodied, supple and charming, with succulent acids and an open-knit, expressive core of fruit. This is an approachable regional wine that will drink well on release.

Arnaud Mortet, who began his harvest on September 3, has produced a terrific 2018 vintage at this Côte de Nuits reference point, now housed in a new and luxuriously equipped facility not far from the Château of Gevrey-Chambertin. Mortet gives his wines a long élevage, so they won't be bottled for months; but the quality he has achieved this year from the top to the bottom of his portfolio was already apparent, and everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended. I will be reviewing the wines produced under Arnaud's new Arnaud Mortet label in the second part of this report. So, what's new at Domaine Mortet? One development is that Mortet is increasingly employing horses in the vineyards, which today cultivate 2.5 hectares of this 16-hectare domaine. That's helping rehabilitate certain parcels, such as his over 80-year-old vines in premier cru Champeaux, which inevitably suffered when worked by tractor. And in the cellar, in addition to retaining larger percentages of intact whole clusters, Mortet is also increasingly experimenting with the labor-intensive technique of cutting out the central stem or rachis from his grape clusters, retaining the berries intact on their pedicels—an approach, pioneered to great effect by Lalou Bize-Leroy, that appears to combine the advantages of whole-cluster fermentation with those of destemming.

Drink 2020-2033

William Kelley, Wine Advocate (January 2020)

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James Suckling92/100

Aromas of blueberries, strawberries, lemon zest and cinnamon stick. It’s medium-bodied with soft tannins and bright acidity. Lively and gently spicy finish. Just a hint of vanilla. Drink now or hold. Better with a year or two of bottle age.

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (October 2021)

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About this WINE

Denis Mortet

Denis Mortet

Domaine Denis Mortet in Burgundy was founded by Denis Mortet in the early 1990s. He died at the age of 51, after taking his own life in January 2006. In his brief, but highly acclaimed passage from the winemaking scene, he rose to become a colossal figure in Burgundy, fashioning wines from relatively modest vineyard holdings which punch far above their weight. He rose to fame with an exceptional range of wines from the 1993 vintage. 

He believed with a deep passion that the work in the vineyard was everything. But there was an essential contradiction to his work: he yearned to make wines of finesse and style, but everything he did in the vineyard and cellar tended towards sumptuous wines of almost unparalleled weight and opulence, which achieved cult status and a devoted following. But the harder he drove himself, the further from his stated aim he went. Only now, under son Arnaud and the watchful eye of his mother Laurence, are the wines achieving the minerality and elegance (and seemingly without sacrificing weight) that Denis sought.

At the domaine everything starts in the vineyard, where every measure is taken to produce the finest, ripest fruit possible, creating a style of wine which, as Denis used to say is "a pleasure to drink young or old." This is an estate of young vines - 25 years old - and where village wines are tended as if they were a Grand Cru; thus all the reds see 100% new oak. Denis Mortet's immaculate vineyards are the key and no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of excellence.

The number of cuvées of village Gevrey has fluctuated in recent years. It was reduced to just one in 2005, two in 2006 and then expanded again to four in 2007: Gevrey on its own, Combes Dessus, En Champs and vieilles vignes. Other cuvées which have appeared from time to time include En Motrot, En Derée and Au Vellé.

The Domaine's 10 hectares encompass 14 different Appellations, including two Grands Crus - Clos-de-Vougeot and Chambertin - and are a far cry from the days of his father, Charles, who started off with only one hectare.

Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.

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Bourgogne Blanc

Bourgogne Blanc

Bourgogne Blanc is the appellation used to refer to generic white wines from Burgundy, a wide term which allows 384 separate villages to produce a white wine with the label ‘Bourgogne.’ As a result of this variety, Bourgogne Blanc is very hard to characterise with a single notable style, however the wines are usually dominated by the presence of Chardonnay, which is just about the only common factor between them. That being said, Chardonnay itself varies based on the environmental factors, so every bottle of Bourgogne Blanc will vary in some way from the next! Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are also permitted for use in Bourgogne Blanc under the regulations of the appellation.

As Bourgogne Blanc is very much an entry-level white wine for most regions in Burgundy, prices are usually very reasonable, and due to the terroir and climate of Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc wines tend to have a strong acidity to them, combined with a vibrant and often fruity palate when compared with other whites from the New World, say, allowing fantastic matchmaking with many different kinds of food.

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Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.

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