The Duband family began relatively late to enter the wine field, through Pierre Duband who, in 1965, created the homonymous Domaine Pierre Duband. The activity of Pierre was however limited to the production and sale of the grapes, obtained from the 15 hectares of property, to the Beaune cooperative winery, while it is necessary to get to 1991 to attend the first harvest of this domaine, renamed by his son David, who had just finished his oenological studies, Domaine David Duband. It was three parcels in Nuits St. Georges, for a total of just 1.5 hectares, but it was enough to make it clear immediately that, with Pinot Noir, David knew how to do it. Today the entire vineyard area is vinified privately and, to meet the great demand of the wines of this Domaine, in 2002 David began a négoce business, buying grapes from trusted suppliers in the villages of Chambolle Musigny, Morey St Denis and Gevrey Chambertin.
The style pursued at the domaine was inspired first of all by ancestral techniques that David learned through the study of production models prior to the wild spread of viticulture in the 1960s. In addition to this study, David also had the good fortune to have among his mentors the legendary Robert Jayer, and to be enriched with moments of confrontation during the internships at Arlaud and Pierre Amiot. The result is a production model that in the vineyard abandoned chemistry as early as 1998, uses the natural fight against harmful insects, through sexual confusion, and practices the the inter-row grassing to prevent soil erosion, and to ensure a natural fertilization. In the cellar it is vinified with the stalk but with relatively short maceration times, in order not to exceed in the extraction and give rise to elegant wines, which age in small new casks only for 30% to avoid that the “weight” wood compromises the previously obtained result.
In 1998 the domaine bought, among the various lots, a parcel in the famous Grand Cru Echezaux, with vineyards traditionally exposed to the east, on calcareous, marly and silty soils. Once harvested, its grapes are vinified at 80% with the bunch and left to macerate for a little more than two weeks with 5-7 daily manual fullings and manual pumping over. The gentle pressing and subsequent fermentation are followed by a 2 weeks stabilization, before racking in small barrels (in this case 40% new and 60% of various steps) and the 14 months aging. The subsequent racking in vats and a rest period of about three months are the last phase before bottling without filtration or clarification.
The 2010 vintage has a full ruby color with a garnet edge, with an olfactory range that opens on notes of wild blackberry, red currant, crème de cassis and vinyl, followed by orange peel, black olive, dried Tea rose and blond tobacco, with final hematic, boisée and sealing wax echoes. The palate is characterized by an excellent balance between deep tasty thickness and citrus freshness, with a hint of black pepper and a tannin of rare softness; all enriched by the return of the noble spice and fruit that accompany the sip to an excellent length closure.
Rating: 92/100
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