2020 David Duband Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge, Burgundy

A ripe and very fresh nose combines notes of various red berries with those of spice and floral wisps. There is fine volume and richness to the round and generously proportioned flavors that terminate in a mildly tangy and lingering finish. To enjoy after only a few years of cellaring.

88 points Allen Meadows burghound.com January 2022

David Duband has become one of the Côte de Nuits’ most respected contemporary growers, based in Chevannes above Nuits Saint Georges. He took over his family domaine in the early 1990s and gradually moved away from selling fruit towards bottling his own wines, while refining the farming and cellar work along the way. His style has evolved towards greater perfume and finesse, with whole bunch fermentation playing an important role in expressing Pinot Noir with freshness rather than weight.

The Hautes Côtes de Nuits vineyards sit above the famous Côte d’Or slopes, where higher elevation means cooler nights and a later growing season. That altitude gives Pinot Noir a particularly bright, fragrant character. The warm 2020 vintage was a good fit for these cooler sites, delivering ripe fruit while retaining the acidity and energy that make Hautes Côtes Burgundy so appealing. With several years in bottle, the youthful fruit is now beginning to pick up some lovely savoury detail.

Bright ruby moving towards garnet at the rim. Morello cherry, wild strawberry and raspberry lead into violet and blood orange, followed by clove, black tea and a little forest floor. The palate is light to medium bodied and silky, with red fruit carried by fresh acidity and fine, settled tannins. Cherry, orange peel, dried leaves and gentle earthy spice linger through a fragrant, savoury finish.

Mushroom and Comté tart fits beautifully with the wine’s developing earthy character, while duck with lentils, grilled salmon with mushrooms, roast chicken with thyme or eggplant with miso and sesame give it plenty of other directions. Serve it slightly cool and let those delicate Pinot aromas do their thing.

Cellaring: Drink now to 2031.