2018 Domaine Duroché, Gevrey-Chambertin AC, Red Burgundy, France.
The 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin by Pierre Duroché is an exception and pure Burgundy, and even though this is just the normal AC wine it could easily be mistaken for a Premier Cru with beautiful depth and mouth filling concentration showing a sense of ripe black fruits, seductive earthiness and a dry tangy and saline quality that gets you salivating along with mineral tones and elegant floral details, impressive. There is a big pop of black cherry, red currant, wild plum and subtle leathery accents that keep your attention and the finish is wonderfully long and youthfully crisp, not overly oaked, this is an openly transparent Pinot Noir that is really performing well even now. Grown on the Cote de Nuits’ classic clay and limestone and from vines in the 20 to 50 year old range the Domaine Duroché Gevrey-Chambertin has loads of personality and a welcome rustic charm, adding sweet strawberry and brambly raspberry to its core fruits with air and a nice chalky essence that reminds all over why you love Burgundy and that these experiences are special, this is a bottle to savor with friends and a great value too. I was engrossed with this wine and kept finding new and more fine underlying facets, like bergamot, wilted rose petals, forest floor and the faintest whiff of wood, this dark garnet and ruby edged Burgundy deserves a long and relaxed meal to get everything there is to enjoy here.

Pierre Duroché, the fifth generation of Duroché vignerons, took over the domaine from his father back in 2005 and has notably raised the game here and the image of the wines at this estate are now highly coveted and sought after. I remember being first introduced to Pierre’s wines by Beaune Imports at one of their legendary portfolio tastings in San Francisco and being very captivated by them and impressed by their value, and this was not the only time these wines impressed me, so I was thrilled to get a few bottles of the latest release and they clearly did not disappoint. Duroché, as Beaune Imports notes, has wide range of top quality vineyard holdings, including some killer plots in Gevrey, as well as basic Bourgogne and village appellation parcels, as well as top Premier Cru and even several Grand Cru sites. The style that Pierre has produced at Duroché is all about graceful lines and understated power with supple tannins and elegant fruit with touch of earth, or as Beaune calls it, a briny mineral core, which they add is a hallmark of the Gevrey terroirs, which I have found to be compelling along with an inner floral perfume and haunting length. The wines are modern enough to enjoy in their youth, they a far cry away from the old school stuff, like the original Domaine Maume, with attractive pureness and opulence that allows them to drink well on release but have the serious stuffing to age perfectly well for 15 to 20 years, especially the Cru bottlings. It was great to catch up with the Duroché wines and I will, without doubt keep a more intense eye on them in the future.
($55-75 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

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