2010 Domaine Dujac

This final report on my trip to Burgundy will be brief; I won’t give masses of details about all the 2010 Domaine Dujac’s I tried simply because they were all utterly stunning. Domaine Dujac is one of the best producers in the world, not just Burgundy (which is one of the few places that counts anyway), and any wine you get from them will be an experience of no-holds-barred delight.

Moreover, the winemaker, Jeremy Seysses (who I met at Oxford in the early 1990s and I still consider an uninhibitedly close friend), is so supremely gifted in the winery and managing his vineyards (albeit with a smidgen of help) that I think he is one of the two best red wine makers from anywhere that I have ever supped the produce from.  Since I have now been nice to Jeremy I’m going to go out of my way to get on his tits by publishing a picture of us together wearing some *ahem* ‘novelty’ swimming trunks I procured:

Jeremy looks a touch less voluptuous than me but we make a pretty drool-worthy couple of chaps, eh? Sadly Jeremy is taken by the person who gives that (I’m sure not inconsiderable) help, Diana. Here they are:

But enough of such talk, you’re here for wine and I shall give you a run down of what you need to know about Dujac and their 2010s.

Firstly, Dujac itself. Domaine Dujac is now quite a large estate with vineyards spread across the Cote de Nuits. Their heart is in centred on Morey-Saint-Denis but they vinify more and more disparately located vineyards than most Domaines who generally limit themselves to a village or maybe two. It’s good to taste a range of wines from across the Cote from one producer so you can see the influence of location and house style.

There has always been a house style at Dujac; the wines are very polished, svelte and silky. This makes them so attractive when young that the misguided seem to think Dujac’s don’t age – utter drivel. I’ve had vintages going back to 1969 and on this trip I had a 1997 and a 1985 that were in super squirrel state. Dujac’s age supremely well.

As I’ve been tasting these wines for oh so very long (hard life, eh?) I’m often asked what has happened to the wines since Jeremy took over wine making from his father Jacques. Brief answer: only good things. The wines still have that attractive silky character but they show their origins much more clearly, seem more harmonious and refined and I rather think they’ll age even better as well. I practically worship Jacques Seysses as a living god, but I have no hesitation in saying that since Jeremy has been at the wheel this has been a golden age for Domaine Dujac. The 2010s demonstrate this amply.

So a thumbnail sketch of them:

Firstly, feel no shame about buying the Dujac Fils et Pere negociant wines. They flash with the greatness of the Domaine wines, epically so in 2010, and they are deeply affordable for what is real, quality Burgundy. The Chambolle was particularly pleasing when we compared them.

You should also be chuffed as ninepence if you can procure the Domaine village Morey-Saint-Denis; it is one of the top few village wines in Burgundy. The 2010 had deeply ripe and powerful fruit, with a good backbone of mineral complexity all kept pulsing with excitement by great acidity. A first-rank performer.

If you ever see the 2010 Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Gruenchers on sale you should stop at nothing to get some. Here’s a line that may come in handy, "I know it’s your birthday, darling, but I was offered the chance of buying more enrapturing pleasure than I’ve ever experienced before. Priorities, you know?" It’s so gorgeously enjoyable; tasting it was one of those moments time stopped as I was utterly ravished by sensual gratification.

The two Vosne-Romanee Premier Crus, Beaumonts and Malconsorts, are coruscating gems in the jewel box that is the Domaine Dujac portfolio. Jeremy worries too much. He’s already bottled the Malconsorts so there is nothing further he could possibly do to change it but still he worries it sits slightly out of line in the Dujac range. Stop worrying, Jeremy! When anyone worth caring about tries that wine they’ll have to fight the effects of uncontrollable happiness – it’s pant-pooingly good.

You always want to buy Dujac Clos Saint-Denis, it’s so perfumed and sex-licious, but in 2010 the Clos de la Roche throbbed with even more allure. My stock of colourful superlatives is insufficient to describe the Chambertin and Romanee-Saint-Vivant – my mind was buggered.

And that is all I can manage. Domaine Dujac wines are the object of all my desires and if they are not yours too then you probably don’t know how to really enjoy yourself. Buy anything, anytime, but especially the 2010s.