A chance meeting between French motor-home mogul François Feuillet and David’s father led to the then 19-year-old being installed as wine-maker for both families’ vines, a relationship that continues to this day. Together, David and François have added parcels in Vosne-Romanée, Echezeaux, Laticières-Chambertin, Chambertin and 7ha of vines from Domaine Louis Rémy and the now-defunct Domaine Jacky Truchot over the years, creating a domaine of 17 hecatres and splitting the production between the Duband and Feuillet labels. 

 

These are beautifully refined Pinot Noirs with complex perfumes as a result of a stylistic change to whole bunch fermentation in 2008 (“Once I had tasted old bottles from Dujac and DRC made with whole clusters I knew I wanted to make similarly aromatic wines”). The percentage of stems David retains varies between cuvées and from vintage to vintage, and the wines will subsequently be aged for 14-16 months in oak barrels, 30% of which are new.  Thanks to the diverse nature of his landholdings and contracts with conscientious local growers, David is able to produce a wide range of appellations, all of which are representative of their terroirs while displaying the signature elegance and finesse that Duband has become known for. His reputation is growing with every passing vintage and it is no surprise that he is held in high esteem by many of the region’s top growers and commentators.

 

With Duband’s Hautes-Côtes de Nuits winery surrounded by much activity (you can see land recently bought by Dugat-Py being developed from his tasting room window), he’s very optimistic about the future. “Climate change means that we now get good maturity here. In 2017 it was beautiful – sometimes the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits had more sugar before Nuits–Saint–Georges or Chambolle–Musigny.”