Wine Advisor
Domaine Dujac, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2011
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2011 Clos de La Roche is one of the more intensely mineral of the Dujac Grand Crus. Tobacco, herbs, fried flowers, rosewater, blood orange and crushed rocks are some of the many aromas and flavors that are alive in the glass. Intense, chalky tannins round out the expressive, perfumed finish. There is a lot to look forward to here. The Clos de La Roche has really come together over the last year. It was a much rawer wine from barrel.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good dark red. Musky, peppery aromas of red cherry, rose petal and underbrush. Silky, rich and fine-grained, with ineffable flavors of red berries, cherry, peppery herbs and spices spreading out to saturate the palate without leaving any impression of weight. Wonderfully suave, energetic wine with outstanding complexity and finishing breadth. This wine was going through an awkward stage when I tried it from barrel a year ago but has turned into a swan.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(85% whole clusters): Good medium red. Briary, smoky dark raspberry, minerals and flowers on the nose, plus a whiff of horseradish. Rich, dry and suave but youthfully closed, with pepper and spice notes running through to the firm aftertaste. This will be sweetened and opened up by a racking, but Seysses only planned to do this prior to the bottling. He admits that it's currently angry; it's certainly tricky to taste today.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. There are discernable, quite potent stem-like scents on the nose of Dujac’s Clos de la Roche: clearly some whole bunch here but it is not fully integrated at present. Still, there is admirable intensity and it remains fresh and interesting. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly coarse tannins on the entry. The acidity is well judged, although the saline finish feels a little astringent and green at the moment. This probably needs more time to harmonize and coalesce.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru has a more immediate bouquet than the Clos Saint Denis. The 90% new oak is neatly absorbed and allows lovely black currant, raspberry leaf and oyster shell scents to shine. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy ripe tannins on the entry. It is nicely focused with fine tension and poise toward the finish. It is still primal of course but this shows good class. Drink now-2029. I have been visiting Jeremy and Alec Seysses at Domaine Dujac for several years now, and it is always one of my favorite ports of call. Alec, looking surprisingly chipper for a new dad had taken time off nappy duty to guide me through the 2011s this year. I have to confess that I was concerned by the conspicuous nature of the new oak on both their negociant label wines and the entry Village Crus. I felt that 35% new oak tended to overwhelm the fruit and terroir and occasionally impart drying finishes, which is why my scores are parsimonious here. As I tasted through the range toward the flock of Grand Crus the oak seemed better assimilated, although I would still maintain that the wine is of such quality that the present level of oak risks being superfluous to requirements. All the negociant label wines were bottled before Christmas. Importers: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724; Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642-5500
About the Producer
Domaine Dujac is managed by the Seysses family. It was founded in 1967 by Jacque Seyesses. At the beginning, Château Dujac had only 4.5 hectares of vineyards in Morey-Saint-Denis. The vineyards were expanded with the purchase of Echezeaux, Bonnes MaresChambertin, Romanee St Vivant and Vosene-Romanee. The estate also owns 1.95 hectares of vineyards in the Clos de la Roche, where the vines are on average 45 to 50 years old. The estate also has 1.45 hectares of vineyards in Clos Saint-Denis, with vines of an average age of 45 to 50 years. In 2005, Château Dujac, together with Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet, acquired Domaine Charles Thomas, acquiring Charles Thomas' shares in the vineyards of Chambertin, Vosne- Romanee and other vineyards. However, the estate sold some of its vineyards after the purchase in order to finance the purchase. However, this acquisition allowed the estate to expand to around 15.5 hectares. Under Jacques' leadership, Château Dujac has developed very well. The grapes were pressed whole and the must was fermented in new oak barrels, and in 1999, when Jacques handed over the running of the estate to his son, the way the estate was made changed dramatically: the grapes were sometimes destemmed and the barrels used for fermentation were probably only 25% new oak. However, the estate's Grand Cru wines are still matured in new oak barrels, while the Grand Cru wines are matured in 60% to 80% new oak barrels. Bottling usually takes place in February or March of the following year. The estate produces around 4,650 bottles/hectare of wine.
1989(1)1995(1)1999(2)2001(1)2003(1)2004(1)2005(2)2006(4)2007(1)2008(3)2009(1)2010(2)
Package Size
3 x 1.5L
