2019 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

Few landscapes are as idyllic and timeless as the 12th century tithe barn that houses Domaine Dugat, where I met winemaker Bertrand Dugat with trusty hound in tow, sister and vineyard manager Laetitia doubtless out amongst the vines. Dugat was one of the most prudent winemakers in terms of keeping distance in light of Covid-19 with none of the usual spitting onto the gravel. “We started the harvest on 9 September and picked over five or six days,” he explained, incidentally the same date as his cousin Loïc Dugat-Py. “When I tasted the wines this week I was expecting to find them heavier, more reflective of a sunny growing season. But they are much more elegant. Everything is de-stemmed as usual. The production is around one-third less than normal. The highest alcohol is with the Bourgogne Rouge and Gevrey-Chambertin La Marie at around 13.1° and the others are around 12.6° to 12.7°.” Bertrand offered an excellent analogy, likening the growing season to a cook whose oven is permanently on a high heat. It means that the cooking is much faster and it is more important to take the food off the hob at the exact moment. “I am a quiet person and I don’t really like big showy wines," he continued.

That is certainly reflected in Dugat’s 2019s, wines that are the epitome of finesse, tension and refinement. I have lauded recent vintages and the 2019s add to a succession of small but superlative Gevrey-Chambertins from the Bourgogne Rouge up to their three Grand Crus that include a spellbinding Chapelle-Chambertin. The downside? These are red-fruited, poised, transparent expressions of the growing season that you might presume from tasting them, derive from a cooler growing season. Alas, as you will see from production figures in my tasting notes, quantities are miniscule, but the wines are well worth foraging for. All the 2019s except the Bourgogne Rouge will be bottled next February.