Dujac Fils & Père Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2023 750ml

The 2023 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is much more rich and extravagant on the nose than the Clos Saint-Denis. Red plums, redcurrant and light rose petal scents are joined by potpourri with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins and a fine bead of acidity. This is a lavish and sensual Clos de la Roche with an almost crystalline finish. Outstanding.

The 2020 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is no less impressive. Exhibiting aromas of plums, red berries and cassis mingled with orange rind, cinnamon, vanilla pod and spices, it’s full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, lively acids and a long, rose-inflected finish. (William Kelley)

The 2020 Clos-de-la-Roche Grand Cru has an extremely pure bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, violet and crushed stone. This feels very focused and classy. The palate is very well balanced with supple tannins, fine acidity, very smooth and sensual with a welcome touch of bitterness towards the finish. A gorgeous wine, although I feel that Clos Saint-Denis has the edge. (Neal Martin)

The 2021 Clos-de-la-Roche Grand Cru comes from five lieux-dits. This was slightly more reduced than the Clos Saint-Denis, dark berry fruit, briary; a faint touch of seaweed emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-sculpted tannins, harmonious and tensile, again, discretely building with a transparent, lightly peppered finish that lingers in the mouth. Excellent.

The 2022 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru on this encounter was so pure and suave that one might have mistaken it for the Clos Saint-Denis. Offering up aromas of raspberries, cherries, sweet spices, orange zest and peony, it’s full-bodied, supple and seamless, with a deep core of fruit, sweet, powdery tannins and a long, sapid finish. There is more underlying muscle and tannin here, however, and I would be surprised to see that assert itself a little more obviously in bottle.

The 2022 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru has a little more intensity on the nose than the Clos Saint-Denis: principally black fruit laced with hints of licorice and clove and veins of blueberry and cassis. The aromatics expand with aeration, gaining vigor all the time. The medium-bodied palate has grippy tannins and quite a bold structure but may not have the precision of the very best that I have encountered. Very saline on the aftertaste — this will require time to shave its edges in bottle.

The 2023 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is lovely, offering up complex aromas of dark berries, cherries, vine smoke, spices and orange zest. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's deep and fleshy, with an open-knit, giving profile and a long, saline finish.

More brooding than the Clos Saint-Denis, Dujac’s 2021 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru opens in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries, sweet forest floor and baking spices. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, with impressive concentration and a long, rose-inflected finish, it’s another of the range’s high-points.