Special Offer Price - $104.95 with code NIGHT
Yann Durieux’s decade at Domaine Prieuré-Roch imprints strongly across a set of wines that are perhaps closest in mood to those of DPR. A professed Henri-Frédéric Roch disciple, Yann embodies the same principled environmentalism and non-interventionist ethos though he manifests these in his own reclusive, highly personalized way.
When they’re ‘on,’ the reds here trade on an oddly persuasive converging of anarchy and vision. They are 'natural' wines, plenty wild and idiosyncratic, yet they can feel superbly coherent. They are not attractive because they are ‘funky,’ but rather attractive because their singularity seems to so clearly articulate a definite vision. Whole-cluster and zero sulfur figure prominently as they do at Prieuré-Roch.
The ’19 reds are gorgeous here, perfumy and splendidly pure. They seem texturally closer to the average ’17 than ‘19, which is to say the wines retain tension and precision despite their flavory appeal. ‘Cuvée Night Cost,’ a single-site bottling from a parcel near Nuits-St.-Georges, illustrates the point. It's perhaps the most aromatic of the reds this year.
As usual it's the temperment/mood that is most compelling (i.e. not explicit features/flavors), but here goes. Lots of cherries on the nose, fresh red ones, then the signature potpourri whole-cluster stuff behind. More flowers with time. Love the streamlined feel, the driving energy of the midpalate and the superbly complex finish. As the wine sits in its glass it becomes more whole-cluster expressive, as if the fruit were willingly giving ground to the tangle of spices, herbs, flowers. Classic Durieux.
Cheers,
Jason
