Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Since fully 1.5 hectares of vines produced a mere four barrels of wine, it's no surprise that the 2016 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots is preternaturally concentrated, and tasted blind I mistook it for the domaine's Cailles. Unfurling in the glass with notes of rose petals, violets, orange rind and ripe cherries, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and strikingly intense, structured around rich, velvety tannins that caress the palate, and concluding with a long, beautifully lively finish. Readers who can find a few bottles shouldn't hesitate.
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Decanter
The Chaignots is attractive in 2016, its aromas of cassis, myrtille and game bird framed by a creamy application of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is supple, rich and full-bodied, with good energy and a deep, sapid core of fruit.
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.