This is always one of the real highlights of the extended primeur campaign, the Seysses family’s 55 year-old domaine being amongst the most revered and soughtafter by collectors all around the world. It’s also one of our personal favourites as, quite simply, the wines are just gorgeous!
Jacques Seysses, one of Burgundy’s true gentlemen, created the domaine back in the late sixties, having bought various parcels close to his village of Morey-St-Denis. In principle, 1968 was supposed to be his first vintage but Mother Nature had other ideas and pretty much wiped out the entire crop, allowing 1969 to take that honour, which, in hindsight, was a pretty good place to start!
From the beginning, Jacques was a believer in the use of whole bunch and although the percentages have been reduced slightly over the past fifteen years, they still play a key role in the style of the wines bringing a beautiful aromatic charm and seductiveness to the fore, which doesn’t dominate but rather works in harmony with the nuances of the different terroirs of the domaine. The wines of Dujac have always been deceptive in that their svelte tannins and silky textures bely a real ability to age with great distinction and charm. They have rarely been richlycoloured wines (the use of whole bunch can take a little colour from the wine) but they have always displayed great fruit intensity, freshness and balance and it’s these characteristics that drive their longevity.
Today, the domaine is run by Jacques’ two sons, Jeremy and Alec, and Jeremy’s winemaking American wife, Diana, who, in her spare time (!) also just happens to make the wines at her family’s estate in Napa (Snowden Vineyards). New vineyards have been bought, including in that other country known as the Côte de Beaune, where some prime 1er Cru Puligny was snapped up a few years ago, and an impressive new cuverie has been built, giving the family more space to work their evident magic.
These 2021’s are fascinating. Much has been written about the challenging meteorological environment of this vintage (a warm end to March advanced the vines and left them vulnerable to what proved to be fairly catastrophic frosts in early April, Chardonnay being the most badly affected as it is the most precocious) and the Seysses’ describe ‘21 as “one of the most demanding and exhausting growing seasons we have known at the Domaine”. May, June and July were relatively cold and damp. Think of a traditional English summer and that was Burgundy in 2021. Sunshine and warmth finally arrived in the second half of August and brought the bunches to a gradual crescendo of ripeness. It was a tough call to find the perfect moment to begin picking as the uninspiring weather through the summer would normally have resulted in limited ripeness, yet the small size of the crop meant maturation was occurring quicker than expected. Dujac decided to begin picking the reds on the 25th September (quite late in comparison to the previous four vintages) and the whites on the 27th. It was one of the smallest crops ever at the domaine but on the flipside the quality is impressive, a testament to the hard work and talent of the team in the vineyards and the agile, adaptive skills of the winemaker.
A little less whole bunch than usual and extraction was kept quite delicate, with more pump- overs and less punch downs. But, the concentration of the berries, of which there were a high number of small ones, was startling, accentuating both the ripe fruit content and the acidity. Consequently, the wines are surprisingly rich, especially for 2021, yet the freshness and punctation of the vintage also comes through and creates great balance and elongation of flavour and complexity. The wines should age well and in 10 years’ time may well surprise those trying to guess the vintage in a blind tasting. Certainly, the dramas of the vintage will be long forgotten by many but the quality of the wines will still be there for all to see. The whites are minuscule in volume but fine and vibrant.
All the wines will be shipped in the first half of 2024 and available for delivery thereafter. We anticipate that all wines will have to be allocated. May we please have your requests by noon Friday 23rd June and we will endeavour to finish allocations by Tuesday 27th June. We request that the invoices are paid in full by July 14th 2023 and reserve the right to re-allocate your order to other customers on the waiting list. The wines will remain the property of Stannary Wine until paid for in full.
Having not yet tasted the entire range of the ‘21s, tasting notes have been taken from Jasper Morris MW (www. insideburgundy.com) and William Kelley of The Wine Advocate (www.robertparker.com)
