A Dugat-Py Retrospective

Burgundy is much more than Pinot Noir from France. It’s a winemaking region with more classified geological complexity and nuance than any other in the world. And Elie Wine Company is not an average wine shop. We have visitors from Burgundy that admit our selection is deeper than most all wine shops IN Burgundy. Not only do we offer eleven different vineyard bottlings from Domaine Dugat-Py, from their regional appellation wines to Grand Cru wines, we have wines throughout the 1996 to the 2013 vintages. That’s commitment.

Domaine Dugat-Py is recognized by consumers and press alike to be one of the top producers of Pinot Noir wines in the entire world. Considering the prominence that this Gevrey-Chambertin Domaine has achieved, it’s astonishing that they had only begun estate bottling in 1989. But they are certainly no newcomers to Burgundy. Winemaker Bernard Dugat and his son, Loïc, are the 12th and 13th generations in a lineage of vignerons that goes back to the early 17th Century.

Family history does not guarantee quality. Much of Dugat-Py’s success comes from obsessive work in the vineyards. There are five full-time vineyard workers for a mere 25 acres of vines. All the trimming is done by hand and a horse is used to plow the vineyards. Replanting is done with selections from their own vine stock, never with clones. The domaine has been fully organic since 2003 but Loïc has recently introduced some biodynamic practices.

The wines are vinified with as little intervention as possible. Domaine Dugat-Py’s barrels rest in the cellars of L’Aumônerie built by Abbot Halinard in the 11th Century. Although the small abbey above them is gone, these solid, vaulted cellars are ideal for aging the wines between 18 months and two years before bottling, unfined and unfiltered.

Appellations

Grand Cru

Mazis-Chambertin (Grand Cru, 1996)
70 years average age of vines, annual production of 800 to 1100 bottles

Charmes-Chambertin (Grand Cru, 2013)
35 years average age of vines, annual production of 1800 to 2400 bottles

Premier Cru

Gevrey-Chambertin – Lavaux-Saint-Jacques (Premier Cru, 2011, 1996)
45 years average age of vines, annual production of 500 to 750 bottles

Gevrey-Chambertin – Champeaux (Premier Cru, 2011)
55 years average age of vines, annual production of 1200 to 1800 bottles

Village

Gevrey-Chambertin – “Cuvée Cœur de Roy” (2013, 2011,1998, 1997, 1996)
Age of vines in the plot from 50 to 99 years, with one plot planted in 1910, annual production of 4800 to 5100 bottles

Gevrey-Chambertin – “Evocelles” (1998, 1996)
65 years average age of vines, annual production of 1500 to 2400 bottles

Gevrey-Chambertin – “Vieilles Vignes” (2013, 1997, 1996)
Age of vines in the plot from 30 to 50 years, annual production of 3000 to 4000 bottles

Vosne-Romanée – “Vieilles Vignes” (2013)
75 years average age of vines, annual production of 900 to 1200 bottles

Pommard – “La Levrière Vieilles Vignes” (2013, 2011)
70 years average age of vines, annual production of 2000 to 2700 bottles

Bourgogne

Bourgogne – “Cuvée Halinard” (2013)
Declassified Gevrey-Chambertin, age of vines in the plot from 25 to 75 years, annual production of 2500 to 3500 bottles

Bourgogne (1997)
35 years average age of vines, annual production of 3000 to 4000 bottles

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Posted on 2015.09.24 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Burgundy