1998 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques
Community Tasting Note
soyhead wrote:
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - Nose - elegant toasty nose but with a whiff of burnt tire
Mouth - I can see what this wine was to become - a mid bodied silky fruity wine but unfortunately it is marred by a burnt rubber flavor which was same in the prior 2 bottles. This noxious essence is only barely present in this wine, but its enough to ruin what should be an elegant beauty. I find the 95 and 96 mortet bottlings to be much more badly spoiled. I have tasted this around to various friends and industry professionals and get a wide variety of opinions such as (1) poorly stored (2) barrel taint but not corked (3) awful dunno why and (4) just the funk you might get out of burgundy. I will have to explore the issue further and it's a shame as a 97 mortet champeaux is one of the best burgs I have ever had, but until deemed otherwise I will have to say avoid 1995-8 Mortet wines. Not scored
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Comment posted by chcook:
1/18/2013 10:17:00 AM - i have also found several bottlings of Mortet in this time frame to be like this (esp en motrot). this smell comes from mercaptans, which i have always thought were from reductive wine making. it has also occurred to me that it might be from too aggressive barrel toast. maybe some of the vineyards just can't handle it? still some bottlings have been delicious so don't despair just be careful!
Comment posted by cavalpha:
5/3/2013 6:03:00 PM - Burnt rubber smell is due to the presence of Mercaptan compounds in the wine. Pinot tends to be reductive and mercaptans are formed by reaction of alcohol and sulfur dioxide (the preservative). Mortet was aiming for a very extracted style up to 2000/2001, which may have caused this flaw. Try decanting the wine, or letting it sit in the glass for a while. It can sometimes blow off.