Dugat-Py, Arnaud Mortet, Taupenot-Merme, Arlaud
There is no visit in Burgundy I anticipate more than the descent into the clustered medieval arches of the former monastic cloister at Dugat-Py. Loic and his family make wines of grandiosity and scale, sweeping aromatics, impressive intensity. His 2020s are concentrated wines, but they also have an astounding sense of lift and freshness. It’s partly down to the high proportion of whole bunch they use – up to 80% in some cuvees. But more fundamentally, it is their very old vines in great plots in top crus – and the generations of work this family has put in tending them.
The village of Gevrey-Chambertin is home to more than one great winemaker: we are also fans of Arnaud Mortet. In 2016 he took over management of 4 hectares of mostly very old vines from fine, stony soils in the south of the appellation. He vinifies the fruit with scrupulous care, and uses it to make his Ma Cuvee, a wine of power and grace.
Down the road in Morey-St-Denis, Romain Taupenot was pretty unequivocal about the quality of his 2020s. ‘I don’t remember such a structured vintage, ever.’ He was almost in awe of the conditions the vintage had gifted him, and he has turned in a beautiful and complex set of wines that are as fresh and focussed as they are structured and powerful. They are also highly terroir-expressive. And while I have had many Arlaud epiphanies over the years, I have never enjoyed the wines en primeur as much as I did in 2020. The fresh, sapid minerality and the evident savoury complexity of the 2020s was a joyful contrast with some producers who may have enjoyed the ripe 2020 flavours a little too much. Like Loic Dugat-Py, Cyprien favours a lot of whole bunch in his fermentations. That approach demands ripe grape stems, so a hot year like 2020 is ideal. I can’t wait to see how these wines age. /NT
Read our full 2020 Burgundy vintage report here.
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Winter 2022/3
