From parcels described in my issue 186 review of its 2006 installment, the Dugat-Py 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux displays a sweetness and tenderness of cassis and elderberry fruit that contrasts dramatically with the near-severity as well as the animal and mineral complexities of the corresponding Lavaux-St.-Jacques. Tart hints of Maine blueberry and bittersweet herbal pungency that emerge on the palate offer counterpoint to the wine’s flattering, vintage-atypical creaminess of texture. This beauty finishes with a sense of transparency to shimmering, crystalline minerality. About as polished and suave as a 2008 gets – yet preserving admirable vivacity and primary juiciness – it ought to merit at least 15 years of attention and will likely gain additional complexity in the process. “The world is already full of talk about 2009,” said Bernard Dugat late last winter, “but how about 2008?!” Indeed, for growers as successful with that tricky vintage as was Dugat, its neglect rankles with good reason. At a reported 23-25 hectoliters per hectare, Bernard Dugat’s yields in 2008 were low even by his standards, which he says explains his having harvested everything by October 2. (His 2007 harvest commenced August 30, less unusual in its vintage’s context.) Only a couple of lots from 2008 even reached 13% alcohol, yet there is no question as to their ample ripeness or overall concentration. Dugat remained largely faithful to his routine of total vendange entier. He racked the wines in late winter (after which I tasted them) and bottled them in the course of the spring. (The 2008 Petit Chapelle was still full of post-malo gas in early spring of last year and I was never able to properly assess it. For further details on Bernard Dugat’s approach, see my report in issue 170. Many details concerning his sites can be found there as well as in issue 186.)Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800
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