2014 Domaine Claude Dugat Gevrey Chambertin Burgundy 750 ml

Michelin-3-Star Burgundy Love Affair

While working at The French Laundry, one of the producers I fell head-over-heels in love with was Domaine Claude Dugat, and I’m thrilled to be bringing their marvelously earthy, incredibly floral 2014 Gevrey-Chambertin to Wine Access today. At The French Laundry, whenever customers wanted an introduction to Gevrey-Chambertin, I steered them to Dugat, considered by many to be the #1 producer in the village, and one of the greatest in all of France. Claude and his family farm just 14 acres of land to exacting standards, working with vines that are among the oldest in the region at 70 years of age. The wines are silky and juicy, laced with wild raspberry and forest floor notes, yet undoubtedly built to age. To this day, Thomas Keller’s Michelin-starred Yountville restaurant carries multiple Dugat bottles on the wine list, with some vintages going for north of $2,000. You could wait a year for a reservation, pay that price plus the cost of a French Laundry meal (on average, $270 a head)—or you could hit “Buy” now for this terrifically elegant, feminine 2014 Gevrey-Chambertin at just $70. Shipping included on 2.

Gevrey-Chambertin is one of the more masculine and tannic villages of Burgundy, compared with Chambolle or Vosné, which are more feminine with softer tannins. Dugat is one of the stars of Gevrey, straddling both lines. No less a critic than Robert Parker has lavished praise on Domaine Claude Dugat. The estate releases “profoundly great red Burgundies, and anyone who owns them has true treasures in the cellar,” wrote Parker, whose Wine Advocate has poured 11 97-100 point reviews on Dugat’s wines. He has characterized the bottles as “wines of tremendous fruit concentration…monumental proportions with a cult reputation.”

The domaine’s history reaches back to the beginning of the 19th century, when Auvergne mason Annet Dugat moved to Burgundy and married into a vigneron family. The estate passed hands within the family through generations including Claude’s father Maurice, who acquired a historic 13th century barn where church grain tithes were kept and transformed it into the main winery building.

Today, Claude—who remains modest in spite of his legendary reputation—works the ancient vines on the 7 acres they own and the 7 they rent with the help of his children Jeanne, Laetitia, and Bertrand, and his wife, Marie-Thérèse. Many of the plots lie inside famous lieux-dits such as Les Marchais, Aux Etelois, and Clos Prieur Bas. Every effort has been made to preserve and protect the terroir, with its rich clay-limestone soils. Yield are typically under one ton per acre, vigor controlled to produce berries half the size of those found in neighboring vineyards. Everything is farmed organically, and naturally fertilized once every four years. In some parcels, horse and plow are still employed.

The rigorous care and attention extends to the cellar, where fermentation occurs in concrete vats. Grapes are punched down twice daily; there’s no pumping over in order to ensure gentle treatment and the extraction of delicate fruit flavors. Aging occurs in a 50-50 mix of new and old oak barrels sourced from François Frères.

Vinous called the 2014 red Burgundy vintage among the best of the last quarter-century, a vintage for “Burgundy purists who gravitate toward wines with clear site character,” producing wines that are “succulent and easy to drink.” At Domaine Claude Dugat, harvest took place over four days starting on September 22 under perfect, dry, cool conditions. Velvety and muscular on the palate with a gorgeous floral aromatic bouquet, this is a lovely Gevrey-Chambertin.