Domaine Dugat-Py
Très Vieilles Vignes Chorey-les-Beaune Pinot Noir
Chorey-les-Beaune, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France
WK has long been singing praises for the wines of Dugat-Py, and a little more so as of late, so I knew I just had to give this a run upon spotting it in the store. I hate to admit to this, but I was one of those who avoided Dugat-Py for years on a handful of disappointing experience, and fueled by the stereotype of heavy extraction and overuse of new oak. Call it resource optimization then, but there's just so much great wines to drink to bother wasting time and money on those you'd likely dislike. I am, however, incredibly glad to have diverted resources to this Chorey-lès-Beaune - the reacquaintance was beautiful!
Gosh, it felt like drinking a great Barolo (although the differences are self-evident on closer inspection) with the highly aromatic floral nose, dense "stubborn-when-young" palate, noticeable tannin structure, and sweeping tensile acidity. This isn't your ethereal style of Burgundy, yet there's such purity, elegance and energy to it... much like a Barolo. The firmness on the palate only really started unravelling in day two, offering notes of cherries, strawberries, and juniper; with deeper cassis, bacon, spice and minerally notes lurking in the background; and a sort of light-roasted coffee-tinged finish. It's deep, complex, and delicious. Ah, the joys of wine!
I can definitely see now why WK's such a strong advocate of Loïc's wines. With this "entry-level" cuvee (appellation aside, can you really call a 1000 bottle run of wines from 1937-planted vines entry-level?), Dugat-Py has certainly struck a high note for me and notwithstanding scarcity, hopefully start posing greater numbers in my cellar.
WK has long been singing praises for the wines of Dugat-Py, and a little more so as of late, so I knew I just had to give this a run upon spotting it in the store. I hate to admit to this, but I was one of those who avoided Dugat-Py for years on a handful of disappointing experience, and fueled by the stereotype of heavy extraction and overuse of new oak. Call it resource optimization then, but there's just so much great wines to drink to bother wasting time and money on those you'd likely dislike. I am, however, incredibly glad to have diverted resources to this Chorey-lès-Beaune - the reacquaintance was beautiful!
Gosh, it felt like drinking a great Barolo (although the differences are self-evident on closer inspection) with the highly aromatic floral nose, dense "stubborn-when-young" palate, noticeable tannin structure, and sweeping tensile acidity. This isn't your ethereal style of Burgundy, yet there's such purity, elegance and energy to it... much like a Barolo. The firmness on the palate only really started unravelling in day two, offering notes of cherries, strawberries, and juniper; with deeper cassis, bacon, spice and minerally notes lurking in the background; and a sort of light-roasted coffee-tinged finish. It's deep, complex, and delicious. Ah, the joys of wine!
I can definitely see now why WK's such a strong advocate of Loïc's wines. With this "entry-level" cuvee (appellation aside, can you really call a 1000 bottle run of wines from 1937-planted vines entry-level?), Dugat-Py has certainly struck a high note for me and notwithstanding scarcity, hopefully start posing greater numbers in my cellar.