TN: 2017 Maxime Cheurlin Noëllat Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits

2017 Maxime Cheurlin Noëllat Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits (12/5/2020)
Pop and pour. Very muted, then decanted through aerator. Nose of black fruit and heavy spice, menthol, very herbal, vegetal, artichoke, asparagus. Nice weight on the palate, black fruit, secondary notes of mint and herbs. Finish is heavy with menthol. (88 pts.)

Interested to hear others thoughts or experiences with this wine or producer.

His wines were one of the few red 2018 burgundies I bought.

The 2018 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits is velvety, elegant and fresh. Very fine winemaking and outstanding quality for this appellation. But priced accordingly. I have some Vosne in the cellar as well as some of the George Noëllat Domaine but haven’t tasted these yet.

In a rather large tasting of the 2018 vintage with producers such as Dujac, Mugneret, Esmonin, Barthold, Clerget, Lambrays, Meo and others Maxime’s wines as well as the wines from Arnoux-Lachaux were my favorites. Surprisingly fresh for this hot year.

I have visited a couple of times - Maxime has been expanding rapidly since taking over the estate from his parents. He has acquired quite a lot of vineyards over the last years and I believe has also been adding a negoce. I assume you tasted a negoce?

For me, his vinification skills are excellent, and the wines really show well when young. I would call them a bit ‘flashy’. For instance, the estate Vosne Romanee 2015 of which I had a case, is gone, as it was so smooth and velvety straight of out of the gate. I bought this at the estate at a very good price, but prices seem to have rapidly increased, so the qpr argument no longer holds. “vegetal, artichoke, asparagus” is not something I associate with the wines I have tasted, from village level to the Ecehezeaux (from the estate).

Time will tell whether the wines will stand the test of time and whether he can manage significantly increased operations.