2013 Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

With nicely lignified stems owing to the long growing season as well as so many shot berries in 2013, we did very little destemming, said Diana Snowden in November. Shot berries, she explained, result in fewer seeds and reduce the risk of extracting dry tannins. The team vinified their premier crus with about 70% whole clusters and the grand crus with nearly 90%. The Dujac 2013s show an outstanding combination of density of material and vibrancy and appear destined for a slow and graceful evolution in bottle. Snowden noted that 2012 was a great year for this estate, "but the wines don't have the purity of the '13s."

This is a gorgeous set of wines from Domaine Dujac and the Seysses family. The 2013s offer lovely purity of fruit, striking aromatics and bright, lively acidity. At times, the 2013s remind of smaller-scaled, more approachable versions of the 2010s, which makes this a very classic-feeling vintage. Jeremy Seysses notes that the harvest started on October 7, on the later side for the year. Ripeness was a little lower than normal, so the musts were lightly chaptalized. As always, the wines were vinified with a high percentage of whole clusters. Poor weather during flowering and sorting at harvest resulted in another vintage with lower than normal yields, which is unfortunate for many reasons, not the least of which is that the 2013s are strikingly beautiful. Indeed, this is one of the most impressive collections I tasted.

The first October harvest here since 1980 actually began on October 7, said Jeremy Seysses. "But despite the long hang time of the grapes, the wines aren't jammy," he added. "And the long season helped to lignify the stems, which made it possible for us to vinify mostly whole clusters." Crop levels were mostly between 25 and 28 hectoliters per hectare in the estate's crus, and potential alcohol levels were generally between 11.5% and 12%. Some wines received a full degree of chaptalization. Seysses mentioned that even though he does more punchdowns of the cap in making his négociant wines, the estate cuvées are richer in extract as this fruit comes in riper and with thicker skins. The domain wines had been racked and sulfited about a month before my visit and Seysses expected to bottle them in March.