Winemaker Notes
Very complex, persistent and deep, it takes time to reveal itself. When it's ready, everything is there: tight and velvety texture, ripe and racy fruit, with hints of licorice, almost endless finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
To distinguish his 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux Saint-Jacques from its Domaine Denis Mortet counterpart, Arnaud Mortet opted to have his team cut out the central rachis, retaining intact berries and their pedicels, for over two-thirds of the crop. The result is a more perfumed, exotic cuvée, evocative of pennies, orange rind, cinnamon and rose petals as well as sweet wild berries and plums. Medium to full-bodied, charming and open, it's more supple and expressive than its stablemate.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Decanter
Arnaud Mortet makes two impressive renditions of this excellent Premiers Crus and I just prefer this négociant bottling in 2018, made with 50% whole bunches where the central stem is painstakingly removed by hand. The stems give the wine a little extra lift and complexity, adding notes of clove and pepper spice to the fresh, floral, red-fruited palate. Textured, hedonistic stuff with refreshing underlying acidity.
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.”
This small village is home to the Grands Crus in the farthest northerly stretches of Côte de Nuits and is famous for some of the deepest and firmest Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Gevrey boasts nine Grands Crus, the best of which are arguably Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. As with all of the fragmented vineyards of Burgundy, it isn’t easy to differentiate between the two, which are situated adjacent with Clos de Bèze slightly further up the hill than Le Chambertin. Clos de Bèze has a shallower soil and if you’re really counting, may produce wines less intense but more likely to charm. Some compare Le Chambertin in both power and plentitude only to the prized Romanée-Conti Grand Cru farther south in Vosne-Romanée.
Two other Grands Crus vineyards, Mazis-Chambertin (also written Mazy-) and Latricières-Chambertin command almost as much regard as Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. The upper part of Mazy, called Les Mazis Haut is the best and Latricières-Chambertin offers an abundance of juicy fruit and a silky texture in the warmer vintages.
Other Grands Crus are Ruchottes-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyères-Chambertin, Griotte-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin.
The most respected Pinot Noir wines from Gevrey-Chambertin are robust and powerful but at the same time, velvety and expressive: black fruit, black liquorice and chocolate come into play. After some time in the bottle, the wines are harmonious with bright and sometimes candied fruit, and aromas of musk, truffle and forest floor. These have staying power.