Tasting Notes
JancisRobinson.com 18.0
Very ripe and luscious. Very flattering and luscious but without that much structure. Very sweet.
Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035
Vinous 93+
Dark bright red. Red berries, flowers, iron, minerals and earthy porcini on the precise nose. Fine-grained, sweet and youthfully restrained, showing superb sappy energy but with red fruits and flowers in the deep background today. This elegant wine is most impressive on the reverberating back end, which features complex pepper, herb and rose petal lift and superb eclat. But in a shell today and in need of six to eight years of patience.
Robert Parker 92
The 2011 Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru is missing a little cohesion on the nose, rather loose-knit with broody, stony red berry fruit. Fortunately, it begins to come together with rigorous swirling of the glass and musters much better focus. The palate is medium-bodied with quite chalky tannins on the entry. There is a fine core of red cherries, pomegranate and attractive saline notes toward the masculine finish. It is more approachable than other vintages that I have tasted at this stage, but it deserves three or four years in bottle because there is a lot of potential here. Drink 2015-2025. I have been visiting Jeremy and Alec Seysses at Domaine Dujac for several years now, and it is always one of my favorite ports of call. Alec, looking surprisingly chipper for a new dad had taken time off nappy duty to guide me through the 2011s this year. I have to confess that I was concerned by the conspicuous nature of the new oak on both their negociant label wines and the entry Village Crus. I felt that 35% new oak tended to overwhelm the fruit and terroir and occasionally impart drying finishes, which is why my scores are parsimonious here. As I tasted through the range toward the flock of Grand Crus the oak seemed better assimilated, although I would still maintain that the wine is of such quality that the present level of oak risks being superfluous to requirements. All the negociant label wines were bottled before Christmas. Importers: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724; Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642-5500
Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025
