Domaine DUJAC and DUJAC Père & Fils (Morey-Saint-Denis) -- 2018 Tasted from Barrel and Tank Part I: Dujac Village Reds and Dujac P&F Reds

(Please see my overview of the 2018 vintage in the Côte d’ Or here.)

Jeremy Seysses said that the harvest began with the whites in Puligny on 27-28 August, and on 30 August he began to harvest the reds. On 12 September the last of the Fils & Père wines came in, finishing the harvest. There was some change from the usual order of harvesting; in particular, the village wines came in first because they suffered less water stress. Yields were generous, comparable to 1999. Alcohols are generally normal, with Gevrey-Chambertin Fils & Père wines and the Gruenchers being above 14º, then the estate Morey-St-Denis being 13.7º, and the rest 12.5-13.5º. Use of whole clusters was in the range of 85-90%, and there was less punching down (pigeage) than usual in order to avoid over-extraction. Malolactic fermentations started early and finished a little earlier than usual (which nevertheless is later than in the 1980s and 1990s, when Dujac was one of the estates I visited that typically had very early malos).

For those lucky enough to have access to Domaine Dujac wines, this was one of the most memorable estates that I visited last autumn -- buy whatever you can access and afford.