Denis Mortet, Chambertin Grand Cru 2016

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

There is just one new barrel of the 2016 Chambertin Grand Cru instead of the usual three, using 50% to 60% whole bunch. It has a linear, strict and focused bouquet, not a flamboyant Chambertin, yet well defined with tightly coiled black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with very impressive complexity, pure and intense, mineral-driven with a sweet cassis-tinged finish that seems to go on forever. Excellent...but maybe not the best from Arnaud Mortet this year.

vinous95

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

(just one new barrel made, vs. a normal three; vinified in a single open 400-liter barrel with 50% whole clusters): Bright, dark red. Knockout soil-inflected aromas of black raspberry, cherry liqueur, mocha, spices and smoky saline minerality. Plush, sweet and deep; wonderfully voluminous but not yet showing the inner-mouth aromatic interest of the Bonnes-Mares (Mortet noted that the fermentation went so quickly that he could barely extract). A Roto-Rooter of a finish builds slowly and inexorably, clearing everything in its path and staining the palate with salty minerality. Like the Bonnes-Mares, this wine conveys a powerful impression of terroir.