Sunday, April 1, 2018

Domaine Denis MORTET/Arnaud MORTET (Gevrey-Chambertin) -- 2016 Part I: Regional, Village, and Premier Cru Wines Tasted from Barrel


Arnaud Mortet said that he began harvest on 23 September. Over the summer, he did some green harvesting in order to homogenize the maturity of the grapes. Overall, the maturity was very good, with the grapes coming in at 12.5-13.5º natural alcohol. There was a very small bit of chaptalization. Arnaud noted that the tannins were of hight quality.

Overall, the estate lost 45% from a full harvest. The vineyards most seriously affected were the premiers and grands crus. 

Arnaud said that he used a fair amount of whole clusters in the wines (e.g., 30% in the grands crus) in contrast to 2017, where he used little due to the lower acidities of the wines. 

Malolactic fermentations generally finished in June and July, not terribly late for this cellar which is quite cold. (Continue reading here.)