Daniel Dampt

Daniel Dampt, a biochemist by background and son-in-law of Jean Defaix, directs this 25 ha operation that is blessed with 4.3 ha of Côte de Léchet, 4.7 ha of Vaillons and just recently added 1 ha of Les Lys. The approach in the vineyards is one of lutte raisonné and the fruit is machine picked (usually on the early side because Dampt likes racy wines), followed by light pressing and débourbage by gravity. Dampt is squarely in the "no oak" school of vinification and it takes place with selected yeasts in large stainless fermenters. The malos are never forced but he will encourage them to start by warming the cellar a few degrees. After 8 to 10 months of élevage (again stainless only!), the wines are fined, cold stabilized, filtered and the mise occurs in-house with as little SO2 as possible. Dampt says he never, ever acidulates but is not above using enzymes to assist with the débourbage, as was the case with the 2001 vintage.
The Dampt wines are always wonderfully pure and graceful and are capable of aging extremely well, even in off vintages. They tend to be subtle and understated in the extreme and thus can seem unimpressive when young. But with age, they blossom and I have had some lovely older Dampt wines that have been exceptional. For example, a 1975 Côte de Léchet tasted recently was in excellent condition and though there were hints of oxidation on the nose, the flavors were intact, complex and very long. Note: the wines also appear under the Jean Defaix label but they are identical to the Daniel Dampt version. BURGHOUND