1996 Gevrey Chambertin Lavaux St Jacques

This wine has similar color and a nose of candied wild berries, briar patch, and grilled oak. This gorgeously expansive, hedonistic, lush, full-bodied, and velvety-textured wine is liquid candy. "Pure adulterous pleasure!" say my notes. Cookie dough soaked in cherry syrup and topped with sugar-coated blueberries can be found in this awesome offering's flavor profile and exceedingly long as well as silky-smooth finish. Wow! Anticipated maturity: 2002-2009.||Bernard Dugat, with the assistance of his charming wife, son, and daughter, has fashioned extraordinary 1996s, nothing new for this family who, since the 1993 vintage, has been crafting some of Burgundy's finest wines.||As I left Dugat-Py's cellars (her maiden name is Py and they added it to the estate's name to differentiate themselves from Bernard's famous cousin Claude) I felt that while his 1996's were superb, his 1995s were even better. With reflection, and with my notes from both tastings in hand, I realize that it comes down to the specific wines. Certain terroirs performed better in '95, and others in '96, most probably due to the weather which dramatically cut back yields in 1995 Wine Advocate.August, 1998

Bright red-ruby. Powerful aromas of black raspberry, gunpowder and smoked meat. Very intensely flavored and sharply delineated, but the sheer concentration gives this a velvety texture. Really quintessential Gevrey. Finishes with terrific persistence and very ripe tannins.