Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is nothing like Nuits-Saint-Georges, which is by no means rustic and overly spicy. More expressive than Vosne-Romanee, it almost feels like Morey-St-Denis, with perfume and precision. Minerally, with grilled oranges and fine spices. Supple in texture but structural, ample and really long. Very well rounded.
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Vinous
The 2022 Nuits-Saint-Georges La Richemone 1er Cru has an airy, taut, floral bouquet with wilted rose petals and red berry fruit. The whole bunches component is neatly entwined. The palate is medium-bodied with crushed stone infusing the red berry fruit, fine-boned and focused with a gentle but insistent grip on the saline finish. Superb. This really demonstrates the caliber of this Premier Cru.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Inhabiting the bottom end of the northern half of the Côte d’Or, Nuits-St-Georges is a busy, market-driven town and home to many of Burgundy’s negociants. It is also the largest town in the Côte d’Or after Beaune and contributes "nuits" to the name of Côte de Nuits (i.e., the northern half of the Côte d’Or).
The appellation itself is divided into two parts, where in the north it directly borders Vosne-Romanée, the southerly end is the commune of Prémeaux. There are no Grands Crus in this village, though it does have a large number of Premiers Crus.
The best Nuits-St-Georges Pinot Noir are layered with cherry, plum, underbrush and sandalwood. The fruit is sweet, the wine energetic, and the finish long and lush.