Tasting Notes
Lavaux St-Jacques is the signature cuvée of the Mortet estate, with Domaine Denis Mortet crafting what many consider the benchmark example. Now, Arnaud Mortet has two wines coming from this great 1er Cru—and there is very little between them in terms of quality. Lavaux is always the last site to be harvested by Arnaud Mortet due to its cooler location. Even if it sits right next door to Clos St-Jacques, Lavaux does not have the protection of the high walls, and is fully open to the cooling, northern airstreams that flow down from the Combe de Lavaux valley. The Arnaud Mortet bottling comes from two small parcels of over 70-year-old vines with rocky and shallow soils (less than 50 cm) and many pieces of ‘Gevrey silex’ indicating a notable alluvial influence on the site.
Denis Mortet, Arnaud’s late father, once described archetypal Lavaux as having “…an exquisite texture. It is solid, becoming more and more slender, very elegant and close to what one expects from a Grand Cru.” What was true then remains true today. The 2022 is a blinder: opulent, layered, packed with dark cherry fruits and loads of spice. All the fruit was destemmed; roughly 30% by hand, with the central stem painstakingly removed with scissors, leaving perfectly intact berries. Only 30% new oak was used this year. - Importer Note
We’re referring to the same Arnaud Mortet behind Domaine Denis Mortet. In 2016, Arnaud and his sister Clémence were fortunate to take over a single domaine in Gevrey-Chambertin, where the owner was retiring. The estate covers roughly four hectares, including some terrific old-vine plots across the Premier Crus La Perrière and Lavaux St Jacques, and Grand Crus Mazoyères and Charmes. The family decided to keep the estate separate and offer the wines under a different label: Arnaud Mortet.
Of course, the same team fully controls the vineyards and winemaking, using the same exacting standards applied to the original family vines. Yes, it’s confusing, but welcome to Burgundy! And anyway, all we care about is getting an allocation (and more wines in general) from this amazing producer. For now, the volumes are small.
As some readers will know, Mortet is also one of Burgundy’s (and therefore the world’s) most significant proponents of hand-destemming, where the rachis, or stalk of the bunches, is painstakingly removed with scissors. This labour-intensive method cuts the berries off the stem, keeping them fully intact on their pedicels. So, bear this in mind when we talk about whole berries. When he wants to destem fully, Mortet is now using the new state-of-the-art SOCMA Cube destemmer, which leaves the berries mostly intact, without the pedicel, and discards any dried-out grapes and all green matter.
Arnaud Mortet is on a killer run of form. Not only is the quality in each bottle off the charts, but the layered, seductive wines exhibit more purity, terroir transparency and finesse than ever before. In many ways, Arnaud has completed the vision that his father, Denis Mortet, always held for the Domaine, which was established in the early ’90s. Denis was inspired by his mentors Henri Jayer, Bize Leroy and his cousin (Arnaud’s uncle) Charles Rousseau. In short, he aimed to produce wines of great depth—from perfectly ripe fruit—yet equally great finesse. His son is now offering us precisely this combination, year in, year out. In some ways, Arnaud Mortet’s wines represent an ideal form of modern Burgundy. Like Jayer and his father before him, he believes great wines are those that deliver enormous pleasure.
| Product Type | Wine Red Pinot Noir |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | France |
| Region | Burgundy |
| Sub Region | Gevrey Chambertin |
| Winemaking Practices | Minimal Intervention |
| Vineyard Practices | Minimal Intervention |