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.
DUJAC PÈRE & FILS
I had thought that in recent years, the village wines were approaching the quality of the estate village wines, but that wasn’t the case on this tasting of 2018s.
2018 Chambolle-Musigny
Dark fruit in nose and mouth, medium-weight, rich. (86-88)
2018 Morey-Saint-Denis
Fresh dark fruits, livelier than the Chambolle, also a bit of red fruit, plenty of wildness. 40% of the wine is from premier cru vineyards. (88-90)
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin
Red fruits, iron, medium-light on palate, still a bit reduced. (87-89)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes
Dark plums, medium-weight, lively, nervy. About 13º alcohol. (90-92)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Cras
Dense, dark fruits, slightly smoky, long, medium-weight. (92-94)
DOMAINE DUJAC
2018 Morey-Saint-Denis
Floral nose. Dense, pure dark fruits in mouth, some powdered overtones. Elegance with power. Outstanding village wine. (91-93)
2018 Chambolle-Musigny
Still reduction in the nose. Body is round and elegant with red and dark fruits, some powdered overtones. A very elegant and outstanding Chambolle. (91-94)