Terroir Insight: Domaine Denis Mortet, Chambertin

The king, the queen and the Chambertin knights .. or in more local terms .. Rousseau, Leroy, Dugat-Py, Ponsot and Denis Mortet … certainly some of the rare birds on the Burgundian vineyard maps.

The Domaine Denis Mortet plot in Chambertin

I have sometimes been somewhat reluctant regarding the rather extracted wines made in Gevrey-Chambertin in the past, but must say that the recent years the wines from Arnaud Mortet have stunned me with there vivid freshness and vibrant fruit.

I’m very impressed by the work done by Arnaud Mortet, and although the wines never struck me as mega extracted or backward – I do feel fresh and refined winds are blowing in Rue de l’Eglise.
        
So lets take a closer look at the rare Chambertin from Denis Mortet.

The Domaine Denis Mortet in short

As mentioned I do like the wines of Arnaud Mortet, who now has been in charge of the estate for almost 15 years (since 2006).

The style has I think gained both energy and hedonistic attractivity in recent vintages, and the oak seem to be better integrated even in the lesser wines.

The Chambertin is however the top wine, and even in the past I found the Chambertin to have a lovely refinement and delicacy. The greatness of both Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Beze is that they can support the weight and intensity with ease and elegance – that only the top end terroirs can display.

From Charles to Arnaud Mortet …

Domaine Denis Morten estate was founded by Charles Mortet in 1956 and therefore coincidentally has the same age as the vines in their Chambertin plot.

Mortet made wines from Chambertin before they in 1999 bought the current plot in Chambertin, and these wines were presumably made from Metayage plots, and they can with a bit of luck still be found in the market.

In 1999 Charles and Denis Mortet was however given the opportunity to buy the plots from the wife of Charles Quillardet. Noëlle Quillardet had 0.1486 ha in total located in the bottom part of Les Chambertin.

The plot on Chambertin was planted in 1955 and 1957 – two years that are encapsulating the year Charles Mortet began his endeavours in Gevrey-Chambertin.

The Chambertin vineyard

But lets take Chambertin from the top … to see all the details.

The Chambertin vineyard is 12.90 ha next to and closely related to the neighbouring Chambertin Clos de Bèze.

Chambertin and Clos de Bèze are without doubt the two top terroirs of Gevrey-Chambertin, and while Chambertin is regarded as the most prestigious vineyard – they are pretty close quality and even style wise.

The Chambertin vineyard is located between Chambertin Clos de Bèze and Latriciéres-Chambertin just above Charmes-Chambertin – see map below.

Taking a closer look at Chambertin we see a relatively large number of plots reflecting the around 20 owners of Chambertin. Domaine Mortet is only the 18th largest owner on Chambertin – with only 7% of the area owned by Domaine Armand Rousseau who is the largest owner of Chambertin.

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