Wine Berserkers Burgundy Appellation Tasting Series, Part 7: Nuits-Saint-Georges

WINE TALK
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Les St Georges and Les Cailles by maisonilan, on Flickr

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Wine Berserkers Burgundy Appellation Tasting Series. We have recently modified the format of this tasting series to allow everyone more time to participate for each village and appellation. Part 7 brings us to Nuits-Saint-Georges, a village that is near to my heart as I now live here. I will be updating this thread with an unseemly amount of photos, but for now, let’s get to the meat of it all, the vineyards and wines of this historically important village. This year, we are celebrating 800 years of freedoms given to Nuits Saint Georges inhabitants by Eudes III, Duke of Burgundy in 1212 AD.

Here are a list of the Premiers Crus of Nuits-Saint-Georges:


Aux Champs Perdrix
En la Perrière Noblot
Les Damodes
Aux Boudots
Aux Cras
La Richemone
Aux Murgers
Aux Vignerondes
Aux Chaignots
Aux Thorey
Aux Argillas
Aux Bousselots
Les Perrières
Les Hauts Pruliers
Château Gris
Les Crots
Rue de Chaux
Les Procès
Les Pruliers
Roncière
Les Saint-Georges - Has been considered for multiple centuries to be on the same level of potential quality as Romanée-Conti, Chambertin, and Clos Vougeot (the top four vineyards in Burgundy)
Les Cailles
Les Porrets Saint-Georges
Clos des Porrets Saint-Georges
Les Vallerots
Les Poulettes
Les Chaboeufs
Les Vaucrains
Chaînes Carteaux
Clos des Grandes Vignes
Clos de la Maréchale
Clos Arlot
Les Terres Blanches
Les Didiers
Clos des Forêts Saint-Georges
Aux Perdrix
Clos des Corvées
Clos des Corvées Pagets
Clos Saint-Marc
Les Argillières
Clos des Argillières

It is important to note that the wines of Nuits have always had multiple personalities. Some vineyards close to the Northern boarders tempt the taster into believing that they are drinking a wine from Vosne-Romanée. In fact, there is often a suppleness, a straight-forward fruitiness that can be found from many of the climats located North of the village, while those on the Premeaux-Prissey side often are dominated by the gaminess that many identify as the calling card of Nuits-Saint-Georges wines. I see it another way. When visiting the different villages along the Côte, there is a general look, slope, and yes, feel that can be used as a bit of a tool when trying to guess how vineyards are classified on visuals and soil types alone. In Nuits, you will find a great many vineyards which look the part of a Premier or Grand Cru due to the wealth of climats resting on beautifully sloped land, at times mouth-wateringly terraced or rich in exposed limestone. Of course, you can’t sum up a vineyard based on just looks alone. But, the truth is that most of the vineyards that are worthy of their reputations do suggest by nature of their sheer beauty that you are indeed in front of something special. Not many of the most exciting climats here looked plain.

Throughout Nuits-Saint-Georges, you will find a stunning array of vineyards that fit this description. Though, the general marketplace has recently come down from the height of its reputation in the 1930s and 40s. Over the last four centuries, Nuits was known for producing wines of excellence, most notable for their grace in aging and having firm, robust character, all three of these traits which were once desirable have become excuses for many to look elsewhere as the trend of drinking wines younger has effected not only Nuits-Saint-Georges, but also other villages of repute such as Pommard and Aloxe-Corton. Counterfeiting prior to and just after regulations were put in place also damaged Nuits reputation with consumers and to some extent,the damage has not been fully repaired.

So, this week; whether you like Nuits already, or if it is something you are generally less excited about, open one up and share the experience with the rest of us.

I’ll be back soon to translate notes from the usual suspects as well as Lavalle’s classification.

We will leave this thread up for one month prior to moving forward in our series.

If there are any requests for specific photos, just let me know.


Les Cailles by maisonilan, on Flickr


Les Saint-Georges by maisonilan, on Flickr


Terraced by maisonilan, on Flickr


Untitled by maisonilan, on Flickr


Les Cailles by maisonilan, on Flickr


Les Poirets, Les Perrieres in background by maisonilan, on Flickr


Notes, MJ Lavalle, 1855

240 ha planted to ‘pinot’ / 350 ha planted to Gamay
There is not one piece of vines planted exclusively to to pinot gris or pinot blanc, called ‘chardenet’ or ‘chadenet’
The vines planted to ‘noirien’ (NOTE: today we generically use pinot noir) are divided in three large classes:
1° Les Tête de Cuvées - formed from the grapes of one sole seed, it is to say providing vines from one sole climat, of two at most, neighbors just about equal in quality.
2° Les Premières Cuvées - Formed from vines of the first order, but that cannot take the name of any climat, the owners not being in possession of enough of one by itself to make a separated cuvée, these premières cuvées have more or less a local reputation, according to the quality of the vines that compose them.
3° Les Socondes Cuvées - in which they are dominated by inferior climats, these cuvées do offer a multitude of nuances, it is the local experience that classes these by the names of their owners.

The average production of the ‘vignes fin’ (vines of top quality) in pinot is around 20 hl/ha, and for ‘gamet’ from 60 to 65.

"The absolute comparison of the wines of Nuits with the other vines of la Côte isn’t more easy to establish. In general, the wines of Nuits have less of the firmness or roughness than the wines of Gevrey, and are eady earlier, they have more body and of color than Chambolles, they resemble the wines of Vosne, and are placed are the same rank, apart from la Romanée and le Richebourg; le Saint-Georges goes at the least to parity with le Corton of Aloxe and le Lambray of Morey, in the end our side of the Côte generally has more body, vinous character, longevity than the wines of the Côte de Beaune, not even Volnay attains the value on the market of the wines of Nuit and of Vosne.

Classification par MJ Lavalle, 1855

Will fill in in a moment##


Thank you again.

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Cheers,

Ray

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Hi Ray,

I enjoyed visiting your cellar two weeks ago, but will not be tasting any wine until Sunday, june 10th. At that occasion I will taste several Nuits and will post notes.

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NSG map from Bill Nanson’s Burgundy Report.

2011 NSG thread.

2010 NSG thread.

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That’s just too man 1ers to keep up with :wink: Does it count if I bought some Nuits this week?

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Nope, you have to buy each of the 41 Premiers Crus or it doesn’t count. Peer pressure

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Wow. Hadn’t realised that NGS had so many 1er cru wines. Never heard of most.

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Alright, so this week, I have made it a point to but some Nuits-Saint-Georges. Truth be told, though I live here, I only buy sparingly, and typically I stick to Boudots. I’ll grab a few, especially Les Saint-Georges and report back, hopefully many of you will join me. Drinking these wines during the same period of time adds to the sense of sharing in these threads.

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2008 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits-St-Georges ‘Les Vignes Rondes’: Pure, delineated and fresh. Delicious cherry fruits, iron and earth are backlit by the vintage, leading to an aromatic and flavour profile that is bright and electric. There’s a suggestion of violets as you get into the wine and texture is vinous lace with underlying bedrock. It is feminine Nuits that is cerebral and thoroughly satisfying.

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Not to be a whiner, but for the most part, I don’t seem to get the same thrill from NSG that I get from most other Nuits communes. I do enjoy Boudots, and LSG, although it’s pricey. And I pretty much would never turn down a burgundy from anywhere, but for the money, even though it can be the economy commune, I end to go elsewhere (eg Volnay for a comparable price.)

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John, I used to think that as well, perhaps more based on the reputation of NSG than actual tasting, but some bottlings I’ve really liked from Gouges mainly and others like Chevillon and D. Rion have convinced me to reconsider.

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I posted this a while back but it’s my most memorable NSG drinking experience.

1985 Gerard Mugneret Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Chaignots: Another thread revealed that this wine shared grapes but not winemaking with the Georges Mugneret version. Of the three wines in this flight this was the lightest in color and it was a very pretty wine, that pure, brilliant ruby color that can be a hallmark of Burgundy. There wasn’t a touch of yellow or orange in its color, and only the nose revealed some age: My first impression was of '80’s Chave Hermitage, with its elegant, spicy, slightly bloody/meaty nose. The flavors included a nice crunchy cherry, more clearly Burgundy. Since most of my NSG experience has been on the darker/richer side like Chevillon and Gouges, I was surprised when this turned out to be Nuits. This held up really nicely in the glass and was just a beautiful wine.

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Had all of those. I agree Gouges can be very good, and have had some excellent chevillon, although also a number that were ok, but just a liitle off, or perpetually seeming not quite ready. Again, for those who love NSG–great. I’ve just learned over time that for my own palate, I seem to get more enjoyment elsewhere (and I’m not someone who buys much in the way of grand cru–most of what I buy is PC.)

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I know what you are saying John, not saying you are wrong, just that I’m challenging that notion for myself. I may end up back to that view eventually, but for now I’m trying to builder a deeper sample size to see if I’m not being unfair to NSG based on preconception. The recent less forbidding vintages of Gouges seem to fit my palate well and in the Rion lineup some of the NSG 1ers have performed as well as their Vosne or Chambolle bottlings for me.

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  • 1991 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Cailles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru (5/27/2012)
    Drunk with Barbara & Betsy & Ronnie on my brief stay in SF. This opened a little funky and had a dusty texture on the palate. Within 20 minutes it pulled itself together with a nice meaty, beefy cherry flavor, sous bois, earthy mushroomy nose ever evolving. Resolved tannins and drinking perfectly. A delightful wine. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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NSG Les Chaboeufs JJ.Confuron 2005
Is really to young.
Cherries,earthy,tabac,little violets,no really changing flavours,good structure,really long aftertaste.
with more cellar-time ,I think a good promise.

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I ADORE this wine. Gerard Mugneret really does a great job with Chaignots as does Mugneret-Gibourg and Chevillon. This is the Vosne side as is Boudots. The Vosne side produces my personal favorites. (Let the slings and arrows come my way.)

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Ray, is there a difference between Aux Chaignots and Chaignots (similarly for Chaignots)?

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Typically I’ve heard only Boudots and Damodes mentioned as “Vosne-like.” Is that accurate or are Chaignots and some of the others in that category?

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Boudots “is” Vosne-Romanee except for the political boundary, IMO. But other climats in the neighborhood do often display the spicebox Vosne character to a lesser extent.

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Here is the “Vosne side” map. As you can see, Chaignots is very close to Boudots. Many on this side are very “Vosne” in character. The sisters at Mugneret-Gibourg make one of the most Vosne like NSG to me. It is from Chaignots(aux Chaignots).
Aux Murgers also is very Vosne like. Hudelot makes a stellar example. Aux Cras from Clavelier might be the most Vosne of all NSG produced with the exception of Leroy Boudots.
Nuits_Saint_Georges.jpg