Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru has a pure bouquet of blackberry, boysenberry, cold stone and bay leaf that is very well-defined. The palate is structured and tightly wound, almost aloof at the moment, but there is certainly very good depth and harmony with a long, persistent yet somehow weightless finish. This is another impressive 2011 from Lucien Le Moine. Drink 2017-2035.
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Wine Spectator
A dense version, boasting black cherry, raspberry, earth and spice flavors. Lively acidity and well-integrated tannins keep this together as the finish reveals licorice and sandalwood accents. Best from 2016 through 2028.
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.”
The origin of perhaps the world’s very finest Pinot Noir, Côte de Nuits is the northern half of the Côte d'Or and includes the famous wine villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echezeaux and Nuits-St-Georges.
Fine whites from Chardonnay are certainly found in the Côte de Nuits, but with much less frequency than top-performing reds made of Pinot noir. The little village of Nuits-St-Georges in its southern end gave the region its name: Côte de Nuits. The city of Dijon marks its northern border.