Disappointment and Surprise: Dugat & LeClerc

On consecutive nights, I had a 2002 Dugat Gevrey Villages and a 2005 Alain Corcia Gevrey Villages, labelled as made at Domaine Rene Leclerc.

The Leclerc was a much better wine than the Dugat.

I could see the quality in the Dugat- silky tannins, great intensity of fruit, beefy Gevrey-ness. But it was saddled with massive over-oaking: it reeked of coconut. In fact, the coconut odor was so strong my girlfriend and I were farting out the smell over the weekend...it was a little like peeing asparagus, and I'd have to say that it was a flaw in the wine.

The Corcia/Leclerc was more rustic, yes, but it was surprisingly open and fruity and meaty and quintisenntially village Gevrey, and it didn't smell like a pina colada on the way in OR the way out. Great QPR at $25- for that price, I can live with a slightly coarsely tannined wine.

I got a sweet deal on the Dugat, but even at the $55 I paid it was hardly worth it, let alone the $75 it seems to go for generally.

[David M. Bueker]

Dugat=oak.

As for the effect of the coconut-ness...TMI.

While I don't have much of an opinion on Rene Leclerc's wines (on the few times I've had them they have seemed a bit coarse), your TN reminded me of something Clive Coates wrote in his retrospective of 1988 Burgundies:

There should be a law preventing incompetents such as the Leclerc brothers from making wine from such illustrious vineyards!

Seems a bit strong, even considering that Coates comes off as a bit of an old crab. Wonder if the situation has improved?

Well, in my heyday I used to buy LeClerc Bros. Never had a problem...but then what did I know?!!

Well, in my heyday I used to buy LeClerc Bros. Never had a problem...but then what did I know?!!

Philippe and Rene were the brothers Leclerc in Gevrey, each with their own estate, split in the '70s. The former was the one that got more notice back in the '80s and '90s; he practiced his own version of long, slow fermentations with extended macerations under parafin layers, etc. See Remington Norman's book for the details. Some of these wines got good notices from critics. Rene, who didn't get as much notice, at least here in the US, practiced some less radical methods in the cellar. Anyone know what the current status of these estates are?

I remember a 1999 Domaine Rene Leclerc Gevrey-Chambertin that impressed me more at the store than when I got it home. I seem to recall liking some others from that domaine but don't have specifics at hand. Does he have a vineyard in Bonnes-Mares or Clos de Beze? I may be confusing Leclerc with Raphet on the grand cru Burgundy.

[David M. Bueker]

Both estates still seem to be around.

Don't see Bonnes-Mares or Clos de Beze in Phillipe or Rene's offerings.

While I don't have much of an opinion on Rene Leclerc's wines (on the few times I've had them they have seemed a bit coarse), your TN reminded me of something Clive Coates wrote in his retrospective of 1988 Burgundies:

There should be a law preventing incompetents such as the Leclerc brothers from making wine from such illustrious vineyards!

Seems a bit strong, even considering that Coates comes off as a bit of an old crab. Wonder if the situation has improved?

My experience with the Domaine Rene LeClerc wines is that they tend towards underripeness in bad vintages, but they're very good QPR in warm years. (Note: the ordinary Rene LeClerc villages Gevrey may or may not be the same juice as what goes into the Corcia bottling- there's a thread on eRobertParker which attempts, with some success, to figure out the deal with this Corcia-LeClerc bottle.)

I thought Neal Rosenthal had, at least in the recent past, been importing Rene LeClerc to the States: I can't imagine he'd put his name on the back of a bottle of a wine made by an "incompetant".