Denis Mortet Bourgogne Rouge Cuvee de Noble Souche 2020
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2021-
Morris
Jasper
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Morris
Jasper
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Suckling
James
A supremely talented vigneron and currently at the helm of Denis Mortet, Arnaud Mortet is routinely praised for his work in the vineyards. Founded by his grandfather, Charles, in 1956, Arnaud took control in 2006 after the death of his legendary father, Denis. He continues his father’s legacy of making refined, elegant wines along with his sister, Clemence, and his mother, Laurence.
Arnaud’s wines are reaching new heights as he embraces more traditional vinification and viticulture techniques. The majority of the vineyard care is accomplished by hand, including horses plowing all 1er and Grand Cru vineyards to minimize soil compaction. Since 1996, chemical fertilizers and herbicides have been avoided in the vineyards, using crop cover of chickweed to help provide health of the vines. Yields are kept very low, and small crates are used to protect the berries during harvest. In the cellar, grapes see gentle macerations and a reduced percentage of new oak. The grapes undergo a strict triple sorting upon arriving at the estate, and the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
A perfectionist by nature, Arnaud makes superbly finessed and precise wines as he continues to evolve this domaine.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
The origin of perhaps the world’s very finest Pinot Noir, Côte de Nuits is the northern half of the Côte d'Or and includes the famous wine villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echezeaux and Nuits-St-Georges.
Fine whites from Chardonnay are certainly found in the Côte de Nuits, but with much less frequency than top-performing reds made of Pinot noir. The little village of Nuits-St-Georges in its southern end gave the region its name: Côte de Nuits. The city of Dijon marks its northern border.