2008 Domaine Dujac, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

The 2008 Clos de la Roche is particularly refined in this vintage. The wine literally floats on the palate with weightless elegance in its intensely perfumed fruit. Crushed flowers and red berries linger on the silky, impossibly fine finish. This is a fabulous effort from Dujac.

The Dujac 2008 Clos de la Roche displays a grip, oily bitter-sweetness, and density to match its pungent smokiness and resinous as well as ripe dark berry aromas. There is a distinctly medicinal aura here and I’m ready to take the medicine, which finishes with truly vibratory intensity of herbs, berries, and smoky as well as crushed stone mineral essences. This plush, finely-structure, remarkably and intensely interactive Pinot is probably truly good for you; I’m almost certain it’s good for 12-15 years in your cellar. The Dujac 2008s were not racked until last December, and bottling took place January through March. “The malic acid numbers were high-ish, but not significantly higher than in, say, 2006 or 2001,” says Jeremy Seysses in an effort to explain what he admitted were “for us, excessively late malos. I have a feeling it was a lack of nutrients that were wash out,” he continues, since, after all, “it rained a lot in 2008” with, he adds, “poor fruit set proving to be the vintage’s saving grace. I think we would actually have had less to harvest (i.e. worth keeping) if we had had a better fruit set. There was rot, but can you find it in any of the wines? That’s a credit to how far Burgundy has come along in terms of sorting” (which Dujac does exclusively in the vineyard, not on sorting tables – the name of their U.S. importer ironically notwithstanding). “I didn’t love my lack of options in 2007,” says Seysses of the preceding season, “so we picked early – earlier even than in 2003.” In vinification “we decided not to force too much, and just to keep it charming,” which is exactly how I thought the wines turned out. “At Domaine Dujac, we’re never been that attached to deep color, so we’re quite tolerant (in that regard), and the least thing we wanted to do was make hard wines. I de-stemmed more (than usual, or than in 2008). The fruit felt fragile, so in barrel I kept the wines under a bit more free sulfur than usual, which reinforced their lightness.” Seysses opines that 2007 was not a year in which old selections displayed their overall superiority to clones, because “if yo(‘re Pinots) were riper earlier, you were ripe while it was raining,” whereas in 2008 you could scarcely get too much ripeness. Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724

Good medium red. Knockout nose combines dark raspberry, licorice and a peppery complexity. Fatter, sweeter and richer than the Clos Saint-Denis, with a positive peppery/herbal component from the vinification with the stems contributing to the wine's impression of energy. Wonderfully intense and sharply delineated. Finishes very long, with palate-staining density, firm tannins and a terrific combination of breadth and energy.

Tasted out of barrel at the Domaine. The Clos de la Roche has a very expressive bouquet despite the slight reduction. You can feel the minerality here, some flinty notes, red fruits and a touch of hazelnut. The palate is silky smooth on the entry with blackcurrant, blueberry and orange zest. Cashmere tannins towards the sensuous finish with superb length. Wonderful. Drink now-2025. Tasted November 2009.

Airy and cool red berry fruit cut with hints of stone, game and leather leads to detailed, robust and firmly muscular broad-shouldered flavors that are presently very backward, serious and superbly long. The supporting tannins are quite prominent but the overall impression is a well-balanced effort that will require plenty of cellar time to realize its full, and considerable potential. Drink: 2023+
-Burghound.com, Issue 41. Tasted: Jan 01, 2011