2018 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

"We started picking on 28 August," Bertrand Dugat told me when I called in at their picturesque 12th century winery in the shadow of the local church. "It is the earliest that I have picked. I was a bit worried to find the acidity in this vintage but we had two teams working very well in the vineyard [sister Laetitia is in charge out in the vines having converted their holdings to organic in recent years.] Traditionally, we have picked all three Grand Crus along with the Premier Crus on the first day of the harvest. However, in 2018 we made an exception. I felt some trepidation about exactly when to commence picking and so this year we picked the Chapelle-Chambertin first, the Charmes-Chambertin two days later and then the Griottes-Chambertin after that. The bunches were warm when they arrived in the winery as we were picking earlier in the season. As usual, everything was de-stemmed. In the end the highest alcohol level was 13.4%. The wines are matured in around 40% new oak for the Village Crus and 60% for the Grand Crus from François Frères." This was a brilliant set of 2018s from Dugat, crowned by a glorious Chapelle-Chambertin that is one of my wines of the vintage. They are obviously tailored in a very different style to that of their father, but with no disrespect, they now achieve far more elegance and intensity than the wines of old, chiming with the fashion for low-intervention, terroir-driven Pinot Noirs that do not shortchange you on flavour.