David Schildknecht passed on the bad news last night. Jacqueline Friedrich reminded me just now. I hope you will understand why I didn’t rush to disseminate the deeply depressing news that Denis Mortet is reported to have fatally shot himself yesterday morning.
Young, intensely ambitious and fiercely self-critical, he had recently extended his holdings in Gevrey Chambertin considerably. He will be much mourned. I never met him but hope in a curious roundabout way that it was not wine and his concerns about his own wines that drove him to take this tragic step.
Any appreciations or reminscences much appreciated.