94+ Monsieur Mortet produced a more extracted style of red Burgundy during his days at the head of the family domaine, and this is not usually a style that I gravitate towards, but I quite liked this bottle of his 1999 Chambertin. The bouquet is deep, pure and still a bit on the youthful side, as it offers up scents of roasted black cherries and plums, grilled meat, cocoa, a lovely base of soil, woodsmoke and a well-done base of toasty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a beautiful core of sappy fruit, ripe tannins and fine length and grip on the tangy and nascently complex finish. It is still early days for this wine, but it is very well-balanced and not a bad drink today in its relative youth. A very well-made example.

Tasted at the Denis Mortet Chambertin vertical, the 1999 Chambertin Grand Cru has an intense bouquet so typical of the vintage. I find the fruit profile attractive: very pure with redcurrants, blueberry and violets, just a hint of soy in the background. The palate is full-bodied, packs quite a punch, but it is adorned with a silky texture, fine definition and there is a gentle crescendo towards sappy black fruit on the youthful finish. Yes, there is a feistiness to this Chambertin, a sense of ambition and yet after 16 years, it reveals succinct balance and a sense of grace that is perhaps missing in some other vintages. It will continue to give a decade's worth of pleasure. Tasted January 2016. - Neal Martin