Winemaker Notes
With vines of an average age of 50 years, the Premier Cru Les Pruliers is an intense and robust wine which has a beautiful capacity to ageing.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A dark, dense red, with aromas of black cherry, blackberry and black currant shaded by graphite and violet. Picks up details of sweet spices as this builds to a lengthy conclusion. Balanced and lively, with a refreshing aftertaste.
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Jasper Morris
On the black side of purple, with a crimson rim, yet happily showing a much fresher fruit on the nose. Black fruit saturates the palate, consistent with this part of Nuits-St-Georges and again the acidity saves the day. More structure here compared to the Premeaux vineyards.
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.