2007 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles

With his low crop levels (an average of 24 hectoliters per hectare in '08), Bernard Dugat always picks on the early side, and in 2008 he had all his Cote de Nuits fruit in by October 1. Potential alcohol levels were in the 12% to 12.4% range and the wines were lightly chaptalized. Dugat leaves the wine alone to make itself, using no commercial yeasts and no concentrator. One variable that does change according to the vintage is Dugat's use of stems. He told me that with his small crop and high percentage of very old vines, "2008 would have been a greater year with one more week of sun," but there are nonetheless some splendid '08s in the making here. Most of Dugat's 2008s were being kept in a cellar at about 62 degrees in early November to finish the malolactic fermentations. I tasted the ones that were finished or virtually finished.

With his low crop levels and high percentage of old vines, Bernard Dugat began harvesting his Cote de Nuits parcels in 2007 on September 1 and was finished by September 9. Dugat admits picking for fresh acidity rather than waiting for extreme ripeness, noting that grape sugars in '07 were in the 12% to 12.4% range and that most of his wines were chaptalized about a half-degree. The malos did not finish until the summer, and the wines were racked in September.