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  • Weather

    9° C Overcast clouds
  • Time

    10:41 AM
  • Wine average?

    96 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    47
  • Region Ranking?

    10
  • Popularity ranking?

    76

News

Vintage 2019

IN THE VINEYARD

The winter of 2018/19 was mild, largely dry and sunny. The second half of February offered cooler temperatures, slowing down the vines’ development but not preventing an early budburst in the spring. The weather stayed cool most of May, with sunny spells, a lot of wind, and very little rain.

Flowering began in good conditions in June, but some cold weather and thunderstorms impacted the latter part. This resulted in some coulure and millerandage was quite common, making for a smaller crop.

Warmer weather returned with the summer and quickly went beyond warm. Fortunately, the nights stayed cool and none of the successive heat waves lasted long enough to cause a worrying rise in sugars or a drop in acidity. The blazing hot sun in July and August did however burn many of the grapes, further reducing our yields. It was not only hot but also very dry! Fortunately, what little rain we had, came at just the right times to avoid hydric stress and save the vines from excessive stress. With smaller bunches, the lack of water was not felt too much.

Picking began on 10th of September for the whites, and on 14th for the reds. This was a very clean crop, with most of the sorting focused on removing sunburnt berries. Overall, the quality was small but outstanding.

IN THE CAVE

In the winery we kept to our idea of infusion rather than extraction. We made few punch downs and allowed tannins to come out with very little active extraction.

We have been doing so in warm vintages since 2014 and have been very pleased with the results. 2019 is not an exception. Some vintages naturally compare, others stand apart. The reds in 2019 fall in the latter camp. This is an extraordinary year. Despite the heat of the summer, the wines are beautifully well-balanced. The fruit is deep and intense with a sweet, controlled ripeness. The tannins are silky and velvety. The acidities are good and give these wines brightness and energy. The whites are not to be left behind, with plenty of ripe fruit, counterbalanced by acidity. Powerful concentrated wines that should age well.

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History

Jacques Seysses started Domaine Dujac in 1968. He was not born in Burgundy, but winemaking is his true vocation. His love for wine comes from his father, a gourmet with a passion for fine wines. Even as a young boy, Jacques would meet the greatest winegrowers of the time in the company of his father.

At the age of 25, after a few years working for the family-owned biscuit manufacturing company, he decided to move on from the business world. During the 1966 and 1967 harvests, he learned winemaking with Gérard Potel at the Domaine de la Pousse d'Or in Volnay. In 1968, he bought the Domaine Graillet in Morey-Saint-Denis, which he renamed Domaine Dujac (a pun on his first name, meaning the Estate that Jacques owns). In 1973, he married Rosalind, who quickly became a key member of the team.

 

Jeremy Seysses started working with his parents at the estate in 1998. His wife Diana joined them in 2001, followed by his brother Alec in 2003. Together the three of them are the new generation, watching over the estate’s destiny, under the benevolent eye of Jacques and Rosalind. Committed to the same quality approach as their elders, they have sought to develop the vineyard: particularly through responsible vineyard techniques, which among other things led to the certification for organic farming in 2011.

From only 5 hectares in 1968, the estate gradually expanded to 11 hectares in 1977, and then reached 15.5 hectares in 2005. Over the years, the estate has expanded beyond the historic site of Morey-Saint-Denis. In 2014, with the acquisition of leased vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet (the Premier Crus Folatières and Combettes), the Domaine produces wines in both Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune.

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Vineyards

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Our vineyard crew is excellent. It takes care of our vineyards year after year with attention and affection. It allows us to work in the winery with magnificent grapes, even in years with more challenging weather conditions. The result is a consistency of which we are very proud.

Quality should not be sacrificed for quantity. We practice green harvesting when necessary, but well-managed vines should not require it. We prune in either Cordon de Royat or Guyot-Poussard.

We plow the vineyards mechanically to avoid using weed killer. We occasionally use organic compost to promote microbial activity and maintain soil nutrient balance.

 

In the vineyard, manager, Lilian Robin, has continued the enormous ongoing effort to incorporate biodynamic farming that was initiated at the domaine in the mid-1980s by the late Christophe Morin. To this end, no herbicides or insecticides have been used since 1986 and other viticultural practices are under constant review. Jacques describes Dujac’s commitment to the environment by saying, ‘‘we are biodynamic, but I try not to make too much of it – we will certainly never be putting our organic status on the bottles. It’s just about good winemaking.”

Clos de la Roche Grand Cru and Clos St. Denis Grand Cru were the first two vineyard parcels Jacques Seysses purchased in 1968. They remain benchmark examples of wine made from these vineyards. As time went on, the domaine continued to expand when other parcels became available. Further holdings of Clos de la Roche were added in 1977 and 1990. In 1977, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru parcels were added, a few small parcels in Mazoyères-Chambertin and one in the upper part of Charmes. In 2005 a number of outstanding vineyards were acquired from Domaine Thomas-Moillard. From “lutte raisonée” management beginning in 1987, the vineyard practices moved to organic farming in 2001. Approximately 75% of the vineyards are now farmed organically with a toe here or there in biodynamic practices.

The full list of holdings:

Bonnes Mares Grand Cru, Chambolle Musigny Les Gruenchers 1er Cru, Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru, Echezeaux Grand Cru, Gevery-Chambertin aux Combottes 1er Cru, Gevery-Chambertin aux Combottes 1er Cru, Morey St. Denis Blanc, Morey St. Denis Monts Luisants 1er Cru Blanc, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Rouge, Vosne Romanee Les Beaux Monts1 er Cru, Vosne Romanee aux Malconsorts 1 er Cru

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Winemaking

In 1967, Jacques purchased Domaine Graillet, a small domaine in the village of Morey-St-Denis. He renamed the winery whimsically after himself as the domaine of Jac, or Domaine Dujac. He became a leading advocate of including a good amount of stems in the fermentation process, His belief was that the mature stems actually reduced the amount of hard tannins in the resulting wine. In addition he wanted to avoid bruising the grapes during the destemming process. The cellars are underground and modest. They have been extended recently to achieve cooler temperatures which enable the malolactic fermentation to happen later thus reducing the number of rackings required.

While the family clearly welcomes innovation, their investment in quality is also steeped in tradition. Specifically, they attempt to intervene as little as possible with Mother Nature. In the cellar, this translates to minimal destemming and reducing the need for sulphur by using a generous percentage of new French oak, which imparts a long, slow oxygenation to young wine and leaches out wine-stabilizing tannins. In the end, Dujac’s wines have a unique style that, depending on the vintage, may be lighter or richer, but are always complex and wonderfully silky smooth on the palate.

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Inside information

Robert Parker believes that Domaine Dujac is “one of the very finest estates in Burgundy, the wines are among the most elegant, complex and flavorful in the Côte d’Or.”

 

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18 different wines with 159 vintages

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