Domaine Denis Mortet

Charles Mortet began in 1956 with one hectare of vines. When his son Denis took over from him in 1992, the estate was made up of 4.5 hectares in the villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot. In 1993 Denis and his wife Laurence took over an estate of 4 hectares that included plots of the Premier Cru Lavaux-Saint-Jacques, the village plots En Motrot, Au Vellé and En Champs, and a plot in Marsannay at Les Longeroies. They bought a plot at En Combe du Dessus in Gevrey-Chambertin in 1997, a plot of Chambertin Grand Cru in 1999, and in 2000 a few plots, including En Derée village and a few Premier Cru plots. Arnaud Mortet began working in the vineyards with his father in 2000. Denis Mortet (d. 2006) was succeeded by his son: Arnaud took over the family estate in 2006 at the age of 24, and the 2006 Lavaux-Saint-Jacques was his first vintage. Since assuming the management of the estate in 2006, Laurence and Arnaud have taken over 5 more hectares: 0.5 hectares in Fixin and a plot of Gevrey-Chambertin in 2011, and plots of Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru and Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru in 2014. Clémence Mortet began working for the estate officially in 2013. In 2016 Clémence and Arnaud established a new estate, going from 12 to 16 hectares, with village plots, Premier Cru plots in Gevrey-Chambertin Les Perrières and Lavaux-Saint-Jacques, and Grand Cru plots in Charmes-Chambertin and Mazoyères-Chambertin.

• 1956: Charles Mortet began with one hectare of vines.
• 1992: Denis Mortet took over an estate of 4.5 hectares in Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot.
• 1993: Denis and Laurence took over an estate of 4 hectares including Lavaux-Saint-Jacques and Marsannay Les Longeroies; they bought En Combe du Dessus in 1997, a plot of Chambertin in 1999 and plots including En Derée in 2000.
• 2006: Arnaud took over the family estate; Laurence and Arnaud assumed its management.
• 2011 to 2016: Fixin and Gevrey-Chambertin (2011), Bonnes-Mares and Mazis-Chambertin (2014), and a new estate in 2016 taking the domaine from 12 to 16 hectares.

The estate's website presents Laurence Mortet and her two children, Clémence and Arnaud, as the family running the domaine since 2006. Laurence, a farmer's daughter, worked in the vineyard to learn the profession after she married Denis. After a vocational diploma course, Arnaud worked in Australia and the United States, and began working in the vineyards with his father in 2000; he took over the family estate in 2006. Clémence, who passed an HND, began working for the estate officially in 2013; her role is estate manager. A team works with the family at every stage, from the vines to the wine.

• Laurence Mortet: has run the domaine with her children since 2006.
• Arnaud Mortet: took over the family estate in 2006; worked in Australia and the United States before joining his father in the vineyards in 2000.
• Clémence Mortet: estate manager; began working for the estate officially in 2013.

The family cultivates one hundred plots of vines on an estate that stretches from Daix, across the Dijon plateau, to Vougeot. The Bourgogne Cuvée de Noble Souche comes from 1 hectare in Daix, the Mortet family's native village north-west of Dijon, where the vines grow at an altitude of 400 metres. Marsannay Les Longeroies covers 1.10 hectares. Fixin Vieilles Vignes (0.75 hectares) blends two plots, Champs Pennebaut and Champs des Charmes; Champs Pennebaut (0.35 hectares) was bottled on its own from 2004 to 2010. Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Cinq Terroirs comes from 6 hectares in five lieux-dits, En Motrot, Au Vellé, Combe du Dessus, En Champs and En Derée, on the northern slope of Gevrey-Chambertin called the Côteau de Brochon; it has been made as a blend since the 2013 vintage, and before that each lieu-dit was made separately. The Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru (0.25 hectares) comes from three plots, Cherbaudes, Petite Chapelle and Bel Air. The single-climat Premiers Crus are Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champonnets (0.30 hectares), Les Champeaux (0.45 hectares, with an average vine age of 70 years) and Lavaux-Saint-Jacques (1.20 hectares), plus Chambolle-Musigny Aux Beaux Bruns (0.23 hectares). Burgundy Report noted in 2009 that the domaine works the largest single parcel of Lavaux, about 1.2 hectares, and that no other owner had even half that. The Grands Crus are Clos de Vougeot (0.32 hectares, at an altitude of 240 metres), Chambertin (0.15 hectares), Bonnes-Mares (0.35 hectares, in the centre of the slope in Chambolle-Musigny), Mazis-Chambertin (0.25 hectares) and Échézeaux (0.25 hectares, in the lieu-dit En Orveaux, adjoining Musigny).

• One hundred plots from Daix to Vougeot.
• Village and regional: Bourgogne (1 ha in Daix), Marsannay Les Longeroies (1.10 ha), Fixin Vieilles Vignes (0.75 ha), Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Cinq Terroirs (6 ha, five lieux-dits, a blend since 2013).
• Premiers Crus: Gevrey-Chambertin (0.25 ha), Les Champonnets (0.30 ha), Les Champeaux (0.45 ha), Lavaux-Saint-Jacques (1.20 ha); Chambolle-Musigny Aux Beaux Bruns (0.23 ha).
• Grands Crus: Clos de Vougeot (0.32 ha), Chambertin (0.15 ha), Bonnes-Mares (0.35 ha), Mazis-Chambertin (0.25 ha), Échézeaux (0.25 ha).

From 1996 Denis Mortet no longer used weed killers or chemical fertilisers; he ploughed the soil, and vine shoots were crushed on site to make an organic soil-enricher. Arnaud has since ploughed a lot less, to protect the structure of the soils and release less nitrogen, and encourages grassing down with chickweed. Treatments are 50% organic and 50% sustainable, particularly during the flowering period, using the tiniest quantities: the dose is adapted to the share of the foliar surface under threat of disease. The canopy is trimmed with clippers rather than by tractor so the soils are not packed down; in 2017 the team trimmed 12 of the 16 hectares this way. Between 3,000 and 4,000 vines are replaced every year, and with the support of the Chamber of Agriculture the family makes its own massal selections in a Champeaux plot that belonged to Arnaud's grandfather. Arnaud belongs to a group of young winegrowers of the Gevrey-Chambertin appellation working with the Chamber of Agriculture. Les Champeaux, Chambertin, Bonnes-Mares, Mazis-Chambertin and Échézeaux are ploughed by horse; the plots for the other wines are ploughed mechanically.

• No weed killers or chemical fertilisers since 1996.
• Less ploughing, chickweed cover, and treatments 50% organic and 50% sustainable, dosed to the foliar surface at risk.
• Trimming with clippers: 12 of the 16 hectares in 2017.
• Massal selection from a Champeaux plot that belonged to Arnaud's grandfather.
• Horse-drawn ploughing in Les Champeaux, Chambertin, Bonnes-Mares, Mazis-Chambertin and Échézeaux.

Since 2008 the harvest has been received in small plastic crates, and sorting in the vat house is done on a vibrating table. Arnaud started using whole grape bunches in 2010, and in 2012 did so for all the wines made from old vines; bunches with mixed-size berries are removed at the sorting table and placed whole on top of the de-stemmed grapes. Fermentation starts with natural yeasts. Vatting lasts between 18 and 20 days, barely a fortnight for small-quantity wines like Chambertin, with cap-punching only 5 or 6 times, and Arnaud uses three times less sulphur than in his father's time. Maturation lasts between 16 and 18 months depending on the wine and the vintage, and the share of new wood is adapted to each vintage. The estate's technical sheets give 18 months in oak barrels for every wine except the Bourgogne, with new oak ranging from 20% for Marsannay Les Longeroies and one third for Mes Cinq Terroirs and Fixin Vieilles Vignes, through 50% to 70% for the Premiers Crus and Clos de Vougeot, to 80% for Bonnes-Mares, Mazis-Chambertin and Échézeaux and 100% for Chambertin.

• Small plastic crates since 2008; vibrating sorting table.
• Whole bunches since 2010, and for all old-vine wines from 2012.
• Natural yeasts; 18 to 20 days of vatting; 5 or 6 cap-punchings; three times less sulphur than in Denis's time.
• 16 to 18 months of maturation; technical sheets give new oak from 20% (Marsannay) to 100% (Chambertin).

Arnaud frames his approach as 'I don’t follow trends. What I want is to have consideration for the fruit,' and quotes the domaine's customers on the style of the wines: 'Your wines are classic, with additional freshness, silkiness and length on the palate.' Laurence Mortet has called Arnaud's wines 'supple, elegant and natural.' Writing on Burgundy Report in 2009 after a vertical of thirteen vintages of the domaine's Lavaux-Saint-Jacques, from the inaugural 1993 to 2006, the author found 'dark fruit, virile and muscular but not fat, olive and licorice flavours and very often a salty, mineral tang.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/arnaud/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/laurence/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/clemence/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/lequipe/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/vignoble/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/viticulture/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/vinification/, https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/cuvee/, and the estate's wine pages and technical sheets (PDF) under https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/en/vins/ and https://www.domaine-denis-mortet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/. Secondary source: Burgundy Report, Profile: Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er cru of Gevrey-Chambertin (2009), https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/07-2009/profile-lavaux-saint-jacques-1er-cru-of-gevrey-chambertin/. Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.