2011 LES SAINT GEORGES TASTING
Mark St Clair thought it would be interesting to collect all of the Les Saint Georges from a vintage for a horizontal tasting. The only grower’s wine he was not able to acquire from 2011 was Domaine Zibetti’s, which may be produced by negociant Lucien Le Moine.
The tasting was the opportunity to think about several issues. Is the 1er Les Saint Georges climat appropriate for elevation to Grand Cru status, as some like Thibault Liger-Belair have argued? To what extent were there there pyrazine or green issues we could see in this fair cross-section of 2011s, a vintage where some have reported these issues? Finally, of course, given the same climat and vintage, how important to the wine quality was the viticulture and winemaking?
All wines served single blind.
A sighter to start
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2011 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Cherry colour with touches of ocre at the rim. A bouquet of strawberries, raspberries, red cherries and orange rind. On palate, fully ripe, with fruit sweetness on entry. Pure red cherry fruit, backed by persistent, firm minerality. Not a hint of green. Below medium weight but with good balance and sufficient concentration and structure. Looking back, I preferred this wine to Gouges Les Saint Georges.
First Flight of Les Saint Georges
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2011 Georges Chicotot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
A bouquet of mixed spices, wet earth, black cherries and darker fruit than the Vaucrains. Also, a vegetal, fresh green herbs note evident on the nose. In the mouth, a leaner wine but with some nice dark fruit and evident acidity. A little lacking in the mid palate, with some rusticity in the tannins. Some, who liked the green element here more than me, described it as fresh herbs, whereas I had it as a touch of capsicum. It also pulled up a little short. One of the least of the lineup for me but not so bad, or flawed, as to be a no award. Some of our group liked this wine a lot more than me.
Me: Bronze. Group: No award 0 Bronze 2 Silver 6 Gold 3 = (23 score, rank 7/12) -
2011 Dufouleur Freres Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
A musky, earthy nose of raspberries and red cherries, clearly richer and riper than the first wine. On palate, crunchy, crystalline red fruit. Quite precise, I preferred the racy acids here to those in wine 1. Cranberries, raspberries and some red cherries, with a little smoky charcoal and tobacco. I detected rusticity to the tannins while Thierry questioned the chapitalisation.
Me: Bronze. Group: No award 1 Bronze 7 Silver 3 Gold 0 = (13 score, rank 9=/12) -
2011 Domaine Vincent Sauvestre Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
A surprise third place at the tasting. Dry clay, brushwood, raspberries and other red fruit and some generosity on the bouquet. ‘Rose and lavender florals’ said Helen. On palate, a big step up from the first two wines. Larger scaled, with more generosity. ‘A good mid palate wine’, said Andrew H. ‘Well balanced, with a good finish’ said Helen. I detected some unintegrated oak on the long, dry finish. No hint of green. Very good, I thought.
Me: Gold. Group: No award 0 Bronze 0 Silver 4 Gold 7 = (29 score, rank 3/12) -
2011 Domaine Chevillon-Chezeaux Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Ferric and stony mineral aromas, black cherries and other dark fruit and violets as a top note. Mineral and sleek on palate, supported by earthy, secondary elements. I detected no pyrazines. Helen was less impressed talking about ‘green pennyroyal’ and seeing a little too much oak, thinking it ‘a little too showy’. John K liked the ‘cool, iron character’ of this wine. I agreed with with Clive that the wine needs another five years to be at its best. Me: Silver. Group: No award 1 Bronze 1 Silver 6 Gold 3 = (32 score, rank 8/12) -
2011 Domaine Alain Michelot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Probably the least of the wines here. An odd bouquet of dry earth and underbrush, with funky and flinty elements. Good weight and power but tasters complained of sulphides on palate. Rustic tannins, particularly on the finish. Quite earthy. Exhibiting a lot of winemaking, as one taster said. Perhaps, with hindsight, my Bronze was too generous.
Me: Bronze. Group: No award 4 Bronze 7 Silver 0 Gold 0 = (7 score, rank 12/12) -
2011 Henri et Gilles Remoriquet Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
This wine seemed a big step up. An attractive, perfumed bouquet of black cherries and darker fruit, dark florals and black Asian spice, reinforced by iron and smoke. In the mouth, precise, with cool iron minerality. Blackberries, raspberries and cherries. The wine was relatively tightly coiled, and there was some vanillin oak, yet to integrate. I thought it needed more time. Not everyone was so positive. Thierry described the wine as ‘too generic, the oak too intrusive, unconvincing’. Me: Gold. Group: No award 0 Bronze 2 Silver 4 Gold 5 = (25 score, rank 5/12)
Second Flight of Les Saint Georges
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2011 Forey Père et Fils Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
The second flight began with a wine with red and black fruit and dried mixed herbs. On palate, decent matière and structure with good bright acidity and reasonably fine grained tannins. However, I and several tasters commented on the green herbal finish. Helen thought the wine too oaky. Perhaps the oak was being used to mask not fully ripe elements in the wine? Or perhaps the wine may improve with time?
Me: Bronze. Group: No award 2 Bronze 7 Silver 2 Gold 0 = (11 score, rank 11/12) -
2011 Hospices de Nuits Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges Cuvée Georges Faiveley Faiveley - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
A more solid, less perfumed, bouquet than some. Savoury, showing rocky minerals, iron, dark spices and dry earth notes. On entry to the palate, some attractive sweet-seeming red fruit. Across the mid palate, good weight and volume, with no greenness. Spherical tannins. Energetic and vibrant. Thierry had this as a classic Les Saint Georges. I however thought it on the night a little too four square to rate it a Gold. This would be an interesting wine to revisit in 5-10 years, when more secondary aspects had developed. Me: Silver. Group: No award 0 Bronze 1 Silver 7 Gold 3 = (24 score, rank 6/12) -
2011 Thibault Liger-Belair Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
My second favourite wine in the line up. Also, one of the darkest colours on the table. Violets and other florals at the top of the bouquet, followed by earth, iron ore and dark spices. On palate, Grand Cru weight, power and architecture, I thought. Silky mouthfeel, with ultra fine grained, spherical tannins. ‘Quite locked down’, said Rauno ‘but not with a lot of typicity’. It is certainly presently very tight and locked down, with an iron core, needing more time. A serious wine with great potential. Me: Gold. Group: No award 0 Bronze 0 Silver 0 Gold 11 = (33 score, rank 1=/12) -
2011 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
On the night, the Gouges (served blind) underperformed its reputation. An inexpressive nose showing some earth, spices, underbrush and ‘burnt rubber’ (reduction). In the mouth, grippy, earthy and dense, with decent volume. Sour cherry, iron and a little underbrush. ‘A little drying on the finish’ said Mike. Thierry described the wine as ‘reductive and unidimensional’. I had the cuvée three years ago, when I found much more to like. Perhaps it’s presently in the (non-drinking) tunnel? Me: Bronze. Group: No award 1 Bronze 7 Silver 3 Gold 0 = (13 score, rank 9=/12) -
2011 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
The fourth ranked wine at the (blind) tasting. A bouquet of mainly darker cherries and berries, dark chocolate and slatey minerals. On palate, sleek with satiny mouthfeel. Ultra-fine grained, suave tannins. New World-ish Pinot, I thought. ‘Confected’ was Mike’s one word descriptor (but not, I took it, entirely meant as a negative). Cola, iodine and briney, with a complex flavour profile. ‘Impressive structure, chewy tannins’, said Andrew H. Very good. Again, it seemed to needs more cellar time. Me: Gold. Group: No award 0 Bronze 0 Silver 7 Gold 4 = (26 score, rank 4/12) -
2011 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
My WOTN. Musky, red and black berry fruit, brambles with rose florals and dusty minerals. On palate, very young, broad shouldered, powerful and weighty. Impressively structured, both in tannins and acids. Firm, taut and with a solid iron core. ‘A beast - yet to come together’ said Clive. A totally unresolved wine but, I thought, with all of the material needed, like a young Grand Cru, to be outstanding. ‘The best balanced wine, with no hint of green’, said Nick. I’d give it another five years, minimum.
Me: Gold. Group: No award 0 Bronze 0 Silver 0 Gold 11 = (33 score, rank 1=/12)
Unsurprisingly, given the same climat and vintage, the human component was seen to be extremely important. Tasters occasionally commented on what they saw as Les Saint Georges terroir markers but, overall, winegrower and maker influence seemed the most dominant factor in quality.
To varying degrees we all saw some green elements in some of the wines. This seemed, to me any way, to be an issue of phenolic underripeness, rather than of an extreme pyrazine taint.
In this lineup, only the Liger-Belair and the Faiveley wines seemed to be of Grand Cru quality. That is perhaps however an unfair conclusion due to the moderate quality of the vintage and the fact, as Mike said, producers were not making the wines as Grand Crus (perhaps, the top two aside). Mark’s view was though ‘Regardless of vintage a Grand Cru should stand out’.
Thanks to Mark for organising this tasting.
Posted from CellarTracker