Domaine Dujac is difficult to describe in just a few words. Its history is not the classic story of the typical Burgundian winery, whose vineyards and winemaking traditions have been passed down from father to son for countless generations. This domaine was created almost from scratch in 1968 by Jacques Seysses, its current owner and winemaker. Jacques prefers to pick and choose amongst local traditions, adopting those that suit his purposes, discarding others and creating new ones when needed.

Jacques Seysses has a goal that is obvious to anyone who knows anything about him: he wants to push the concept of quality to its uppermost limit, continually improving upon what he has done in the past. (We might add that this is a particularly daunting task given the already impressive quality of his wines). Jacques doesn’t play by anyone else’s rules and he is often criticised by his peers for his choices, which they are perhaps too close to local tradition to comprehend. For example, in order to guarantee low yields in the vineyards, it is not uncommon at Domaine Dujac to harvest and discard a portion of the crop more than once while the grapes are still in the very early stages of development. The first time Jacques implemented this practice was in 1989. Most of the Cote de Nuits laughed, until they realised that if done correctly, these green harvests allow the remaining grapes to develop a higher concentration of sugar and flavours, resulting in superior wines. Jacques Seysses believes in "letting the wines make themselves," and only intervening when there is a problem. He doesn’t destem or crush the grapes before fermentation, which is the locally accepted practice, and avoids filtering his wines whenever possible. Jacques was also one of the first winemakers in Burgundy to purchase oak in bulk, then have it custom made into barrels for his domaine by a local cooper. What does all this add up to? Wines that are often cloudy rather than clear, with explosive, complex red berry bouquets, and a symphony of flavours on the palate. Domaine Dujac must be hated by the writers of wallet-sized vintage rating charts, as its wines are often excellent in the very vintages the charts warn the unknowing consumer to avoid!