Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Les Corbeaux 1er Cru 2021

Aromas of dark berries, incense, spices, baking chocolate and smoked duck preface the 2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux, a full-bodied, layered and enveloping wine with a deep core of succulent fruit, supple tannins and a long, sapid finish. The 2022 vintage has turned out very well indeed at Domaine Dugat-Py, delivering a crop of beautifully balanced wines that are built for the cellar. I've written it before, but in another warm and dry vintage, it bears repeating that this domaine's innovative viticulture, emphasizing high, unhedged canopies and biodynamic preparations, with soils cultivated to encourage deep rooting, means the vines are better equipped to resist the heat and drought than many of their neighbors. And while low yields, old vines and small-berried massal selections mean that these are inevitably deep, concentrated and age-worthy wines, extraction isn't pushed so far as it once was, and—as I wrote last year—Loïc Dugat-Py has also quietly reduced the percentage of new oak used here. So, I once again encourage readers to put outdated stereotypes of excessive oak and overextraction to one side and try what is being produced today, as these are bottles that number among the finest that contemporary Burgundy has to offer.

Note: vinified in ceramic amphora. A high-toned, pure and airy nose offers up its aromas of red currant, cherry, cool earth and a whiff of the sauvage. There is again excellent punch and delineation to the lightly stony medium-bodied flavors that deliver fine length on the balanced, powerful and youthfully austere finale. At least some patience will be necessary as this is pretty compact today. *Burghound Outstanding!*