2018 Domaine Duroche Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru "Estournelles St-Jacques"

Aromatic and precise, the 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Estournelles Saint-Jacques reveals lovely aromas of peonies, rose petals, orange rind and red berries. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, lively and succulent, with melting tannins and a fragrant core of fruit. As I wrote last year, the quietly confident Pierre Duroché—who once represented France in rock climbing—took over this eight-hectare Domaine in 2005. He knows what he wants to achieve and is well on the way to achieving it. Blessed with an enviable patrimony of vineyard holdings and plenty of old vines too, his hand-harvested grapes see gentle macerations and élevage with decidedly modest percentages of new wood. Stems, thoughtfully employed, are increasingly part of the equation. The ensuing wines are beautifully fragrant, with filigree tannins, vibrant fruit tones and sneaky persistence. Duroché harvested early in 2018 and has produced a lovely range of fragrant, elegant and unusually vibrant wines that I can't wait to taste again from bottle. His 2017s, which I also revisited, are showing beautifully, capturing all the inherent charm of the vintage. In short, Domaine Duroché continues its ascent, and readers who haven't yet taken notice should do so before it's too late.(WK)