2007 Gevrey Chambertin Petite Chapelle

Son Loic, 27, bought these vines in 2000 – a succession to be proud of? Broad, sweet, robustly healthy nose. Bramble fruit. Soft and rich and really rather gorgeous. Black fruit. A little tough on the end now. (JR)

Deep red. Wild dark berries, minerals and game on the nose; this could only be a wine from Gevrey. Juicy, spicy and light on its feet, with youthfully imploded flavors of dark berries and licorice. Intense and energetic but not yet fleshy. The tight finish shows a repeating note of licorice. Dugat recommends aging these premier crus a decade, noting that he's enjoying his '97s and '98s now.

Dugat-Py’s 2007 Gevrey-Chambertin Petite Chapelle displays a carnal character in distinct contrast to the corresponding Gevrey 1er Cru bottling, but along with suggestions of red meat and meat stock come blackberry and cassis as well as licorice, Szechuan pepper, and rosemary. Sweetly-fruited, pungently spicy, and profoundly meaty, this is a 2007 with plenty of appeal, although like most red Burgundies of its vintage, it lacks exuberant juiciness, and in addition exhibits a surprisingly strong lashing of finishing tannin. I would anticipate at least 6-8 years of appeal here, and one might want to wait several before revisiting, at which point the future evolution of the wine’s tannins might be more adequately forecast. ||“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.) Wine Advocate.June, 2010