Winemaker Notes
Its noble, strong character works well with juicy, meaty dishes such as lamb, tournedos Rossini and duckling.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, the 2014 Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos Saint-Marc has a complex, quite arresting bouquet with finely tuned dark cherry and raspberry fruit, hints of incense of pressed flowers developing with time. I adore the precision of these aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, notes of blackberry and raspberry preserves, a keen line of acidity and a pleasant touch of bitterness toward the long finish. This is another delightful, beautifully sculpted wine from Rion. Tasted September 2017.
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Wine & Spirits
This monopole covers 2.3 acres near Rion’s cellars, the vines averaging 60 years of age. The soil is relatively deep and it builds a wine with a heavy drape of tannins, but they hold an earthy intensity, deepening the sanguine flavors of blood oranges and roses, layering its savory power. It offers delicious richness if you open it now, and should reward long aging.
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Wine Spectator
A lean, racy version, whose black currant, black cherry and violet flavors are fused to burly tannins. Elements of chalk and stone lend grip to the finish. Best from 2020 through 2037.
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.