LeDomduVin: Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes 2003

Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin

1er Cru Aux Combottes 2003

What an extremely pleasurable and satisfying wine! Amazing! And, it is a lot to say for a guy like me, as I am definitely not a fan of the 2003 vintage in Burgundy and even less in Bordeaux.

2003 was the first severe heat wave of the 21st century to hit Europe. It produced the hottest summer recorded in Europe since at least 1540.

France was hit especially hard. It began in June and lasted throughout mi-august, raising summer temperatures 20 to 30% higher than the seasonal average.

It was a weird vintage in many western European countries, as the producers facing such a heat wave for the first time did not know what to do.

As grapes reached their maturity much earlier than usual, some decided to harvest earlier to keep the acidity and prevent over-ripeness but also feared the weather may change to rain.

Others waited to take advantage of the full ripeness and concentration of the flavors, hoping it might rain in September to produce more juice.

And some did both, resulting in awkward, unbalanced, and inharmonious wines, displaying overly mature or often overripe, cooked fruit flavors lacking or with weird acidity and unintegrated green and earthy tannins.

Even wine critics and the press were fooled by this unprecedented vintage, rating the wines highly at first, "En Primeur", more specifically for Bordeaux, then lowering their scores 2 years later at release.

I will always remember 2003 as one of my worst "En Primeur" campaigns ever. So many people canceled their orders and it took months or even years to get rid of the unwanted stock.

However, this Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin Combottes is definitely an excellent example that some producers also managed to produce amazing wines in 2003, and how good producers know how to make good wine, good year, bad year. Showing extremely well now. Really approachable and enjoyable. Rich, ripe, lush, ample, smooth, generous, and layered, coating the palate with both ripe red and dark fruits. Great structure and texture, and enough acidity to keep it fresh. Very "suave" in my opinion. Highly recommended.   - Dom (11.11.2022)

Santé! Cheers!

Dom

PS: Kudos to Jeremy Seysses that I had the pleasure to meet many times during my London years 1997-2002

#ledomduvin @ledomduvin #lesphotosadom #wine #vin #vino #wein #domainedujac @drinkdujac #burgundy #sommelier #sommelierlife #sommlife #ilovemyjob #tasting #tastingnotes

Unless stated otherwise, all right reserved ©LeDomduVin 2022 on all the contents above including, but not limited to, photos, pictures, drawings, illustrations, visuals, maps, memes, posts, texts, writings, quotes, notes, tasting notes, descriptions, wine descriptions, definitions, recipes, graphs, tables, and even music and video (when and where applicable).