David Duband by Alessio

Tasting six wines from David Duband offers a fascinating glimpse into the nuances of Burgundy, where winemaking is as much an art form as a craft. With all the wines produced similarly, it was a unique opportunity to explore the distinct personalities of each commune while getting a sense of Duband's signature style, which persists across every bottle.

David Duband has been steadily refining his approach since he took over his family's domaine in 1991. His journey from conventional farming to organic certification by 2006 marked a significant shift, and the acquisition of prime vineyard sites, thanks to his friend and business partner François Feuillet, certainly didn't hurt. But David's real talent lies not in grand gestures but in his consistent evolution - a bit like fine-tuning a well-loved instrument until it sings just right.

Duband's wines started gaining more attention around the 2008 vintage when he began experimenting with whole cluster fermentation and a gentler hand in the cellar. This shift resulted in wines that were less bulky and more graceful, allowing the subtle differences between vineyards to shine through. In Burgundy, where the soil and climate differences between vineyards can be minute, this approach is crucial. David's wines aren't about bold contrasts but rather the delicate interplay of terroir and vintage.

While some might argue that a uniform approach to vinification results in wines that don't vary much from one to the next, it's in the subtleties where the magic truly happens. Having a winemaker like David Duband, who employs a consistent method across his range, allows us to witness the differences in terroir - sometimes subtle, sometimes striking - in each of his wines. In a region as terroir-driven as Burgundy, this uniformity in the cellar strips the wines down to their essence, revealing their origins with clarity. It's like seeing the terroir laid bare, making Duband's wines a perfect study case for understanding the nuances of Burgundy's diverse landscape.

Duband's vineyards are mostly located in the Côte de Nuits, Pinot Noir's stronghold within Burgundy. He manages an impressive range, from entry-level wines to village wines from Gevrey-Chambertin to Nuits-Saint-Georges, with premier crus in Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis, and Nuits-Saint-Georges, and even a collection of grand crus. Each wine, regardless of its classification, is treated with the same meticulous care: grapes are hand-harvested, sorted, and then vinified with a high proportion of whole clusters - anywhere from 50% to 90% depending on the wine and vintage. Fermentation is carried out over 17 days with traditional techniques like pigeage (punching down) and remontage (pumping over), ensuring a thorough yet gentle extraction.

After pressing, the wines spend two weeks settling before being transferred to barrels, with 40% new oak and the rest in barrels that are one to three years old. Ageing lasts 14 months before the wines are racked into tanks for another three months, followed by bottling without filtration.

Tasting through these six wines, it's clear that while David Duband's approach might seem methodical, it's anything but monotonous. Each bottle offers a distinct expression of its terroir, from the more approachable Bourgogne to the structured and complex Clos Vougeot. Duband's wines are a testament to the beauty of Burgundy's subtle differences, revealed one glass at a time.

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