Domaine dujac - clos saint denis dinner recap
Edouard Bourgeois
December 18, 2024
We were lucky to taste superb wines at Gabriel Kreuther last Thursday. Domaine Dujac needs no introduction, and I never miss an opportunity to taste those wines. The fact that we were able to collect ten vintages of the Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru was truly exceptional. Below is my recap and notes about the different vintages.
While Dujac is known for its incredible red wines, whites made by the domaine shouldn’t be overlooked, as the two vintages of Puligny Combettes proved here. Starting with a great 2016, a year with a tiny crop after devastating episodes of frost in April. It was very fine, elegant and had evolved very gracefully. 2014 was even better in my opinion, offering more energy, zesty acidity and intensity with a long finish.
We started the long vertical of Clos Saint Denis with 2017, a year known for its freshness, signature of a cool, early season followed by nice and dry weather through the harvest in September. Besides an episode of hail in July, 2017 went well and produced healthy fruit, both for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I loved the iron character on the nose, a particularity of the site where iron oxide is present. A polished wine with silky tannins, great start.
The 2015 was served with the same course and showed superb aromas of chocolate and espresso. Quite incredible and surprising in my opinion as I tend to find 2015 red Burgundy still quite close and hard, but not with this one. 2015 is known as the ideal year in Burgundy. Just enough rain and sunshine, perfect temperature throughout the growing season, it was considered an “easy” vintage besides some oidium pressure.
2014 is typically the shy one. It was comparable to 2017 in terms of finesse and body but I found it to be a bit green. I don’t think it was “the wine of the night” for anyone and it flew under the radar. Still a great bottle but it suffered from the comparison with more expressive vintages.
Along with the 2014 was 2012, a year that produced a small crop with important millerandage (small berries). The high proportion of skin compared to the amount of juice played a role in concentrating the must and eventually the wine. This bottle was a tad reduced and needed plenty of air to open up. I think the wine was still developing when I tasted it by the end of the night after being opened for 4 hours!
2010 offered deliciously refined secondary aromas of underbrush with a hint of earth. Again, a rather small harvest was recorded in 2010, this time due to a serious frost episode before the year even started, impacting the vigor of the plant and its ability to produce fruit.
The next course, a wonderful squab and foie gras dish specially designed for this menu, was accompanied by three vintages starting with 2008, a rather difficult year with both mildew and oidium playing a part. Luckily for vignerons, northern winds helped clean the vineyards to produce healthy fruits for a nice harvest under the sun. This Clos Saint Denis was not as fruit forward as I would have liked but I really enjoyed its graceful evolution and similar noble secondary aromas we had with the 2010.
2005 was another happy surprise, comparable with the superb 2015. I couldn’t stop smelling this wine. I am a fan of the black cherry one can find in red Burgundy and there was plenty in this one. Incredibly deep and complex, the nose kept on giving. I even got a hint of smoke. Impressive. Dujac is known for using a high proportion of whole cluster and I think here, it provided the perfect touch of freshness and vibrancy.
2002 quickly became the conversation piece at the table with mixed opinions from the guests. I really enjoyed it, with its hints of tertiary aromas, tomato skin and lighter color. Although not as intense as the 2005 fruit bomb, 2002 had a touch of Brettanomyces (a yeast strain that in too high proportion is undesirable) but I found it beautiful and charming.
The last flight arguably offered the best wine of the night but also the least enjoyable. 1998 was unfortunately disappointing; the nose never recovered from what appeared to be maderization.
But we were able to close with a grand finale provided by an exceptional bottle of 1995. This was the only wine made before Jeremy Seysses arrived at the domaine, so entirely made by his father, founder Jacques Seysses. Jacques is known for making wines lighter in color, less extracted but somehow very expressive! It was exactly the case here. The balance was pitch perfect and the aromas intriguing and sensual. Still juicy after that many years, spicy and mineral, I even found hints of menthol on the nose. Incredible!
