2010 - Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaut Saint-Jacques, Denis Mortet

(bottled in April of 2012): Good bright medium red. Discreet, very pure aromas and flavors of raspberry, smoke, mocha, violet and minerals. Rich, dense and mouthfilling but without any impression of weightiness. Most impressive today on the building, extremely long finish, which shows an intense spiciness, noble tannins and zesty finishing notes of tart red berries and menthol. Very classy wine and one of my favorite premier crus of the vintage.

The 2010 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques is a big wine bursting with dark red fruit, smoke, licorice and menthol. Layers of fruit continue to flesh out in the glass as the wine finds its focus. The Lavaux St. Jacques was aged in 100% new oak, but there is more than enough fruit to support the cooperage. The fruit seems to blossom in every direction on the large, expansive finish. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2032. Arnaud Mortet is focused on making elegant, refined wines. In 2010 he sought to achieve that through gentle extraction and less use of new oak barrels, which is broadly the direction his winemaking is headed, notwithstanding the many particulars that present themselves each year. Mortet planned to age the 2010s fifteen months in barrel, then rack the wines into steel. Yields are of course down across the board, but that won’t be much of a surprise to readers given the vintage. Overall, the Mortet 2010s are striking for their beauty and transparency. The 2009 also showed brilliantly from bottle. I will report on those wines in the April issue. Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400

Dense and deep and zesty. Real interest here – savoury and orange peel. Good! (JR)