The 2018 Vosne-Romanee Les Beaux Monts 1er Cru has a subtle Asian influence on the nose, offering well-defined aromas of hoisin and wet limestone. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity, quite saline in the mouth, with a sense of symmetry on the finish. Simply a class act. (NM)

A wine that is both juicy and wonderfully hedonistic, this classy cuvee is fermented with 75% whole bunches and aged in 70% new wood. Comparatively pale in colour, but certainly not lacking in depth or palate weight, it has some tannic grip and subtle wood to complement the plush, palate-caressing fruit. Deliciously drinkable. (TA)

Here too a background application of wood can be found on the spicier and even more floral nose of liqueur-like red and dark raspberry, sandalwood and exotic tea scents. The beautifully well-detailed and more mineral-driven flavors possess a super-sleek texture before concluding in a dusty, youthfully austere and very firm finale. This is lovely but in contrast to the Combottes which might reasonably be approachable on the younger side, this is one to put away for at least a decade. Outstanding

The 2018 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts exhibits a deep bouquet of cherries, plums, orange rind, smoked duck and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, supple palate that's succulent and charming, framed by powdery but not unduly assertive tannins.

Jeremy Seysses opted to pick early in 2018, beginning with the white wines on August 27 and started the reds on the 30th. "The 'usual' picking order was disrupted," related Seysses, explaining that sites with deeper soils experienced less hydric stress and ripened faster. "Without the large crop" - which here ranged between 42 and 48 hectoliters per hectare, with even the old-vine Gruenchers giving 35 hectoliters versus a normal 25 per hectare - "I think it would have turned out like 2003," he added. This is clearly a very successful vintage chez Dujac, and it's a very consistent portfolio in what is more generally a somewhat heterogeneous vintage. This is a deep and youthfully muscular set of wines, and I visited just after the first few cold days and nights of winter 2019. Seysses commented that the range was in a comparatively closed phase, with their structure a bit more prominent than had been the case a month earlier - but such are the vagaries of barrel tasting. What is clear is that this is a serious vintage, bu(more...)