2024 Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru "Aux Combottes"

Smelling of fresh herbs and summer flowers, black currants edge onto the full-bodied palate. The alcohol, as it can here at times, seems to stick out. It’s not that the alcohol is high but rather that it just feels a bit discombobulated. Jeremy did say that the abv increased 0.5% in the week before this was picked. Otherwise, the tannins are fine and creamy and the supporting acidity helps to extend the long finish. This was 15% destemmed.

Produced with 50% destemmed fruit, the 2024 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes lifts from the glass with aromas of dark plum, spice, chocolate and cassis. Medium- to full-bodied, supple and charming, its vibrant core of fruit is framed by powdery, structuring tannins. Dujac’s 2024 harvest, after some debate between Jeremy and Alec Seysses, commenced on September 19 and extended over seven days. As elsewhere in the region, yields were low, impacted by intense mildew pressure brought on by a humid growing season. Potential alcohol levels were comparatively modest, ranging from 12.1% to 12.7%, finishing between 12.6% and 13.2% after chaptalization. Average yields, lower in the Côte de Nuits holdings than in the Côte de Beaune, came in at 18 hectoliters per hectare—hardly the lowest by the standards of fully organic farming, which the estate, unlike many others, did not abandon despite all the challenges. After losses to disease pressure in 2024 and rigorous sorting, the estate resorted to a higher proportion of whole clusters than usual to build volume in the fermentation tanks. Whole-cluster vinification was employed for all premier cru and grand cru cuvées, with the exception of Gevrey-Chambertin Aux Combottes. Macerations were very short—around 10 days, and even less for smaller-volume cuvées (just six days for Echezeaux). Extraction was approached rather cautiously this year, with punch-downs largely eschewed and only occasional pump-overs employed.(KK)