Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
A lively fresh purple. A touch of new oak for the moment a bit dominant. Then a much darker red fruit which has if anything even more energy than Les St-Georges, but not quite as smooth at the finish, yet. Some tannins still to work out. Drink from 2032-2040.
Barrel Sample: 93-96 -
Vinous
The 2022 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains 1er Cru, the last Premier Cru to be served from barrel, has the finest nose: mineral-rich black and red fruit with exquisite detail. The most precise of Chevillon's Premier Crus. The medium-bodied palate offers ripe red fruit laced with marmalade and blood orange. It’s a little spicier than the Les Saint-Georges and grainier in texture, with a dash of brown spice on the finish. Outstanding.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains is inky and serious, unwinding in the glass with notions of dark berries, cherries and plums complemented by subtle hints of rose petal and violet. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, with an imposing chassis of rich, powdery tannins, this will, as ever, reward patience.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Wine Spectator
This is elegant, displaying black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, mineral and spice flavors. Open and fluid, almost coming across as straightforward until the gripping tannins emerge midpalate through the finish, showing a more serious side and driving the lengthy finish.
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.