1996 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques Premier Cru

My husband and I had this 1996 Gevrey Chambertin that he brought up from his cellar not too long ago. He made a duck with berry sauce which is his go to meal with Pinot Noir. The wine was drinking perfectly. It's difficult to breakdown a wine that is this smooth and complex. I am of the feeling that it is at the pinnacle of drinkability. I just asked hubby if we had any more of this wine because I think it needs to be drunk sooner rather than later to really appreciate how beautiful it is!
I wanted to learn a bit more about Domaine Denis Mortet so I interrogated the internet. What I found was very sad. Denis Mortet took his own life in 2006 at the age of 51. A little bit of history. Denis' father, Charles Mortet began in 1956 with 1 hectacre of vines. By 1992 when Denis Mortet took over the domaine, it was comprised of 4.5 hectacres vines in the villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot. The domaine continues in the capable hands of Denis' wife Laurence and their two children Arnaud and Clémence. Today, Laurence, Arnaud and Clémence cultivate one hundred plots of vines on a wine estate that stretches from Daix, across the Dijon plateau, to Vougeot.

The 1996 Gevrey Chambertin that we drank came from the Lauvax St. Jacques premier cru vineyard. The technical sheet for this wine describes the vineyard: this plot of vines faces fully south, on a steep slope. At the top of the slope, the soil is poor and pebbly, with rock at a depth of 25 centimetres. At the bottom of the slope, the soil is also pebbly, but deeper and with more clay.
The vines benefit from a maximum amount of sunshine during the day. Thanks to the proximity of the valley, temperatures at night are very cool. This contrast in temperatures suits Pinot Noir very well.

After reading about the domaine and how Laurence and her children are maintaining it, I asked my husbband if we could purchase a bottle of their more recent Lavaux St. Jacques. I just looked and the 2018 wine is now selling for $279.00 a bottle! I retract my previous comment that we need to drink this wine sooner---we need to cherish this wine and drink it with appreciation!
References:
1. Adam Lechmere, Decanter, Denis Mortet, February 3, 2006.
2. Domaine Denis Mortet.