Decanted about 90 minutes ahead and consumed over three hours with pork shoulder braised with root vegetables – a great match.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve seen a lot of posts about '01 Burgundies being shut down. This bottle offers a lot, even though it’s nowhere near it’s apogee.
On the nose, there’s an earthy, parched dirt smell – complex and intriguing. It reminded me of top-flight aged sangiovese. Some dried strawberry notes, along with a trace of VA (two people at the table were extremely sensitive to VA and fastened on that immediately, though for me it’s an incidental element). Four hours after decanting, some alcohol shows on the nose and on the palate.
There’s a great backbone of acidity here, but with a lot of fruit. Dried cherries, someone said aptly. If I’d tasted this blindly, I think I might have guessed a top Chianti of a similar age, or a very elegant Brunello (e.g., the best Mastrojannis). The grapes plainly did not want for sun – there’s a caressing warmth that is surprising in a Burgundy.
Dried sour cherries on the finish, with a strong acid streak (“beams of acid,” Galloni would say) – like someone softly drawing their nails down your back.
Scoring it. I started out at 90-ish, but after hours in the glass, it was at 94.7 points when last measured, and rising. With air it both opens up and, paradoxically, shows more of its stern Nuits masculinity.
Chevillon has a knack for melding the virility of Nuit with elegance. This wine really showcases that, as filtered through the fruit of a warm year. It was no crime to open it tonight, but I won’t be digging out my remaining bottles anytime soon, for this promises a lot more with time.