The 2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Estournelles Saint-Jacques was 100% destemmed, coming from the first parcel located just beyond Clos Saint-Jacques. It has a captivating bouquet with superb mineralité: darker fruit than the other cuvées from Duroché, endowed with wonderful tension and focus, gaining more and more nuance as it opens with aeration, though it is never going to give too much away at this prenatal stage. You would almost think there was some whole bunch here, but Pierre Duroché informed me that this is because the vineyard suffers millerandage, so a lot of whole berries end up in the barrel. The palate is beautifully balanced with ebullient red and black fruit, though it is weighted toward the former rather than the latter. There is superb weight in the mouth, a caressing texture and a superb sense of tension right to the finish. This may well be the best Estournelles that Pierre has produced…thus far. Alas, just one barrel produced, and it will probably be bottled in magnum only.