Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint-Georges is also showing brilliantly, mingling aromas of dark berry fruit, plums and cherries with nuances of baking chocolate, rich soil tones and subtle carnal nuances. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, rich and muscular, with real concentration and substance. This is a lively, sapid, broad-shouldered Les Saint-Georges that will be very long lived.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Decanter
Definitely at the riper end of the spectrum in Nuits-St-Georges in 2018, although not excessively so, this is a plush, slightly jammy expression of this famous Premier Cru site, with aromatic 30% new wood, balancing acidity and some of the grunt and grip that are typical of the terroir. The finish has commendable focus and precision.
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.