Domaine Claude Dugat, established in 1955, is widely considered one of the top producers in Gevrey-Chambertin. It is a small family-run domaine, with founders Claude and Marie-Thérèse’s children – son Bertrand and daughters Laetitia and Jeanne – having taken over the running of the six hectare estate.

The domaine practises sustainable viticulture, never using fertilisers or herbicides. The aim is to have a light touch in the vineyard and to harvest the grapes when they are just ripe. Ripeness (and the harvest date) is determined solely by taste rather than by lab analysis, with the wines always having a signature freshness because they never pick late. The concentration and intensity of the wines is derived primarily from old vines and low yields.

The grapes are 100% destemmed and fermented in concrete tanks with gentle punch downs for extraction. The wine is racked into barrel for malolactic fermentation and is aged in oak for at least 12 months. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration. They are naturally clear after spending two winters in the cellar. The vines for the Bourgogne Rouge come from the village of Gevrey-Chambertin. The wine is made for enjoying now, having spent just over a year in one-year-old barrels.

The nose offers delicate and complex aromas of bright cherry, raspberry and violet with hints of fennel and clove. This wine has tremendous depth and intensity for a Bourgogne rouge, with fresh acidity and velvety tannins on the palate. Elegant and balanced, it will develop more flavour intensity and a superb complexity with age.