1997 Chambertin
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Tasting notes
The inaugural vintage of this cuvée is the 1997 Chambertin Grand Cru, a wine that's still showing well for what is a largely forgotten year, with a hot, sunny August and September punctuated by rains not long before harvest. Offering up aromas of dark berries, spices, toasty oak and sweet forest floor, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a sweet core of fruit, rich tannins and a long, penetrating finish. This was matured in a 130-liter feuillette.
Critic scores
Average Score
Pierre Rovani
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Only 152 bottles of the virtually black-colored 1997 Chambertin were made. Dugat's parcel of 72-year-old vines were harvested at 12% natural potential alcohol and had a pH of 3.8. Those looking for nuance and delicacy in a young Burgundy should shy away from this wine ...it is truly a hedonistic fruit bomb. Aromatically, it reveals creamy, wild red berries, cherry pie filling, fruitcake, blueberry jam, milk chocolate, and hints of white pepper. This is a chewy, almost syrupy-textured monster with candied and jellied red fruit flavors that saturate the palate and seemingly linger forever. Burgundy's weather in 1997 was decidedly more New World-ish than what is typical in this northerly region. Bernard Dugat's Chambertin reflects this in its massively ripe flavor profile and texture, yet he masterfully was able to maintain enough of the structure that has made Burgundy's Pinots famous throughout the world for this wine to be balanced and have some cellaring potential. Drink this extraordinary offering over the next 8-10 years. Bravo! Oct 1999, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
Dugat-Py, based at the base of the Combe de Lavaux in Gevrey-Chambertin, stands as one of Burgundy’s most revered producers, known for crafting Pinot Noir of incredible depth, power, and age-worthiness.