2006 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru

(includes Petite Chapelle, Cherbaudes, Chaponnets and Bel-Air) Bright red-ruby. Blackberry, violet, mocha and a whiff of game on the nose. Dense, broad and sweet, with a chocolatey richness and a bit of reduction. Boasts very good stuffing and length.

Combining fruit from Chaponnets, Bel Air, Cherbaudes, and Petite Chapelle (the last two of which took hits from hail) Mortet's 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru is seriously mineral in its suggestions of chalk, stone, and oceanic brine. That noted, the dark fruits here are sweet and – like the wine's deep expression of red meatiness – slightly roasted. Suggestions of licorice and coffee add further intrigue. The overall impression is somewhat spare yet refined in texture and more than adequately ripe, and the finish unperturbed by any rough indicators of hail-taint or (its 100% new) oak. This should be worth cellaring for several years and will I expect remain expressive for the better part of a decade. ||For his first entirely solo vintage, Arnaud Mortet was saddled with a load of challenges, most notably the legacy of hail in so many of his vineyards. His reaction was to back off on extraction and new wood, trends which he seems inclined to continue pursuing even in less tricky vintages. He opines that the "acid structure" of his 2006s – which are also amply endowed with largely fine-grained tannins – will help them age well. Wine Advocate.December, 2009