Informed by parcels in Fontenay, Corbeaux, and Perrieres – their four barrique’s worth of fruit pressed and fermented together – the Dugat-Py 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru displays wonderfully deep and metaphorically dark aromas and palate richness of cassis, blackberry, beef stock, and peat. Creamy in texture; suffused with saliva-inducing salinity; and underlain with a subtle sense of crushed stone, this displays a compelling combination of richness and verve, palpable extract and levity. I would anticipate 12-15 years of excitement from bottle. “The world is already full of talk about 2009,” said Bernard Dugat late last winter, “but how about 2008?!” Indeed, for growers as successful with that tricky vintage as was Dugat, its neglect rankles with good reason. At a reported 23-25 hectoliters per hectare, Bernard Dugat’s yields in 2008 were low even by his standards, which he says explains his having harvested everything by October 2. (His 2007 harvest commenced August 30, less unusual in its vintage’s context.) Only a couple of lots from 2008 even reached 13% alcohol, yet there is no question as to their ample ripeness or overall concentration. Dugat remained largely faithful to his routine of total vendange entier. He racked the wines in late winter (after which I tasted them) and bottled them in the course of the spring. (The 2008 Petit Chapelle was still full of post-malo gas in early spring of last year and I was never able to properly assess it. For further details on Bernard Dugat’s approach, see my report in issue 170. Many details concerning his sites can be found there as well as in issue 186.)Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800