Visit Domaine Duroché – tasting of the 2016s from cask

This is my second visit to Domaine Duroché one of the rising stars of Gevrey-Chambertin – the first one being the tasting of the 2015s in November last year – see the article here.

Pierre Duroché made some tremendous 2015s, but it’s in my view way to early to open these for a taste – although they have reached the restaurants already.

The 2014s from Duroché are drinking beutifully now, and while the 2015s are bigger wines – I recommend the 2014s currently as they are more build for short and mid-term drinking.

The 2016s from Duroché is a return to the cooler and more classic Burgundies – and also mark a continued success for Pierre – they are even better than expected.

A bit about Domaine Duroché

Domaine Duroché is a rather large estate located in the very center of Gevrey-Chambertin. The quality has improved tremendously over the last years, as the son Pierre Duroché now has taken over the vinification. Pierre began to take over in 2005 and now has established himself as one of the new and promising estates of Gevrey-Chambertin. The quality is now at a completely different level than when I 15 years ago tasted some of the grand crus from the 1999 vintage – another league so to speak.

Pierre is blessed with some lovely vineyards – 0.2530 ha of Chambertin Clos de Bèze, 0.0192 ha of Griotte-Chambertin 0.2757 ha of Latricières-Chambertin, 0.4121 ha of Charmes-Chambetin and is the largest owner of Lavaux St. Jacques with 1.2025 ha. The estate also comprise plots in Estournelle St. Jacques and Estournelles St. Jacques + plots in several different village terroirs – including the exiting Aux Etelois located just on the border to Griotte-Chambertin.

The wines are all made with a quite light hand – impression of oak is limited as is extraction. All the cuvées offer a nice expression of terroir and are classic yet slightly modern Gevreys – pure, transparent and juicy. The use of sulphur is moderate – around 22 to 22 mg/l free sulphur at the bottling.

These are the type of wines I enjoy … so a lot to like, with a beautiful portfolio of fine vineyard potential. This is clearly an estate to follow.

The 2016s from Domaine Duroché

The 2016s from Domaine Duroché are delightful wines, and as many other producers Pierre prefer the style of the 2016s to the style of the more weighty and powerful 2015s.

The 2016s here are actually so good, that Pierre thinks they might even be better than his 2015s – although its very early to compare these two vintages quality wise.

I tend to agree with Pierre in some cases, as most of the 2016s offer a tremendous intensity without having the slightly dense concentration of the riper 2015s. In the long run at least some of the 2015s will probably prevail – but to be honest they are quite evenly matched by the 2016s in many cases.

And with a preference for cooler years … the 2016s looks very appealing indeed – and in the low end they do seem to have the edge – whereas the big terroirs handles the weight of the 2015 vintage better at this early stage.

Yields were quite low in 2016 – 40% below 2009 – but almost the same amount of wine produced as in 2015.

Tasting notes from the Visit on June 20th 2017

Starting out with the Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2016 made from plots located below the RN74 just south of the village towards Morey-Saint-Denis. 70% of the fruits were lost in this area in the 2016 vintage. The nose offer fresh and juicy red and dark berries – rather classic Gevrey for a generic Bourgogne. On the palate fine and pure fruit – nice intensity and length for this level. Lovely mid-palate fruit and a nice hint of earthy minerality. The level of purity in the lesser wines seem to be slightly better in 2016s at this stage – A Good (85 – 86p) generic Burgundy.

The Gevrey-Chambertin 2016 village – a bit more than 3 ha in total – also seem to show a fine purity. The nose offer lovely red and dark berries – boysenberries and raspberries – with a hint of iron minerality as a reminder of it’s Gevrey origin. On the palate juicy and vibrant with a lovely intensity. It’s a Good++ (86 – 87p) village, that will offer fine drinking over the next 5 to 10 years.

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