Wine Advisor
David Duband, Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru 2015
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(Duband pulled up a portion of these 90-year-old vines after the 2015 harvest for replanting): Dark red-ruby. Brooding aromas of dark fruits and licorice convey a medicinal quality. Then wonderfully creamy and mouthfilling, conveying outstanding depth and thickness to the flavors of black fruits and dark chocolate. This huge, chocolatey wine finishes with great rising length and cheek-coating solidity. In fact, this is rounder on the aftertaste than the Latricières, which Duband says is atypical. This wine, he added, is entirely from tiny berries and although it shows black fruits and big, ripe tannins, it's never exaggerated in alcoholic maturity and it maintains its freshness in bottle.
About the Producer
The Domaine David Duband lies in Chevannes, in the heart of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and produces refined and elegant wines from 23 prestigious appellations from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin. The estate farms 17 hectares of vines organically, under the strict management of the Ecocert label. The domaine also buys grapes from a few small vinegrowers who farm with great respect for the vines and of their surrounding environment. The quality of David Duband's wines has steadily advanced since he took over his family's domaine in 1991. In 1939, he began the move away from conventional farming and became completely certified organic in 2006 out of respect for the environment but also for the intrinsic quality of the wines. His goal is to sustain the life of the soil, plant and animal species that promote the natural ecosystem. Duband's vineyards are all located in the Côte d'Or's northern sub-zone, the Côte de Nuits-almost exclusively Pinot Noir country. He maintains a stellar collection of entry-level wines, village wines from all the major communes from Gevrey-Chambertin to Nuits-Saint-Georges, and 1er Crus in Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis and Nuits-Saint-Georges. For Grand Crus, he's got six, with the famed Chambertin the flagship. In 2005, his friend and business partner, François Feuillet, managed to buy vineyards which included privileged old-vine parcels in the Grand Crus, Clos de la Roche and Charmes-Chambertin. Many of the Duband's vineyards are farmed in metayage with Francois Feuillet and those can be found wines under either the Domaine David Duband or Domaine Francois Feuillet label.
