2014 Gevrey-Chambertin Champ

Arnaud Mortet strongly recommended the wines of his friend and coeval Pierre Duroché in December and I was lucky enough to squeeze in a visit here on short notice. Duroché, the fifth generation of his family to make wine, took over here in 2005. He has 8. 5 hectares of vines, all in Gevrey-Chambertin, including a lot of small parcels. As a number of his vineyards include older vines (the Clos de Bèze dates back to 1920), Duroché is now embarking on a replanting program.

Duroché harvested in 2014 with potential alcohol in the 12% to 12. 5% range, noting that he does not like to bottle wines as high as 13%. He normally destems his fruit but retains a high percentage of whole berries, and he carries out what he described as a “moderate” pre-fermentation cold soak. He does a series of “little pigeages" early in the fermentation, then relies more on remontage later on. Duroché ages his premier crus in 30% to 40% new oak, and the grand crus in 50%.

Duroché describes his 2013s as deeper and more concentrated than his 2014s, and with more energy. But he cautioned that the 2014s, which had been bottled a week before my December visit after spending a month in tanks, were still a bit linear. He finds the aromas of the vintage a little like the 2007s, “although the ’14s are deeper and more structured. But they will still drink early for their sweet fruit. ” He made 20% more wine than in 2013 but still averaged a reasonable 35 hectoliters per hectare--and more like 20 for his grand crus.