Nuits Saint Georges

Our 2016 Nuits-St Georges has once again been made for us by the talented Benjamin Leroux. We have blended the fruit of two vineyards — Aux St Jacques and Les Fleuriöres — to paint a complete picture of the appellation. The former provides floral perfume, elegant tannins and red berry fruit, while the latter gives structure, spice and black fruit. It's an irresistible combination which should be enjoyed now or over the next few years. Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Maxime Rion now makes most of the decisions at this exemplary estate, although he can call on his father Patrice – approaching his 40th vintage as a winemaker – for guidance. The Rions are a talented, forward-thinking family who were among the first in Burgundy to bottle some of their wines under screwcap, and whose eco-friendly tractor shed boasts solar panels and a rainwater purification system.

This is a fresh, fruit-driven Burgundy from vineyards just above Nuits-St Georges. It is raised exclusively in used oak, which rounds the tannins and accentuates the wild, spicy character redolent of Nuits. Drink now to 2021.

Half the fruit here is from the domaine, the rest is bought in from their next-door neighbour. Very much in the Rion style, this has a compact core of plum and blackberry fruit, and no shortage of worthy tannins. It’s not as lush as some 2016s, and none the worse for that. Drink 2021-2026.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Patrice Rion and his wife Michèle began their own small domaine in 1990 with just two wines, Bourgogne Rouge, Les Bons Bâtons and Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras, while Patrice was still working as winemaker with his family at Domaine Daniel Rion. In 2000 Patrice left the family business to develop his own estate further. Today most of the vineyards are in Nuits-St Georges and Chambolle-Musigny. Recent vintages have seen the increasing involvement of Patrice’s son Maxime. The Rion cellar is a bit emptier this year, partially because of the frost but also, more significantly, because their arrangement in Chambolle for Villages, Fuées, Amoureuses and Bonnes Mares has terminated, and 2015 was the last vintage of those lovely wines. Maxime Rion initially found the 2016s a little “monolithic” after fermentation, but they have discovered their terroir in barrel. The vintage shows more red fruit than black, with the fruit of frosted vineyards having more colour. The long, cool end of season reminds him of 1996 but, whereas that vintage is only starting to drink now, the 2016s will open up earlier. The estate also has a new wine, a Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits from the Dames Huguettes vineyard. It’s made from bought-in fruit, but chosen from an especially well-sited and tended vineyard.

An attractive pale pink-purple with quite a reticent nose. It is in the mouth that the quality shows, with a swelling density of fruit, a very special touch of silky tannins, and no undue acidity behind.
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Wine Director

The harvest began with whites on 26^th September, before the rain, then the reds were brought in during less good weather, with sorting necessary. The stems were ripe enough to allow for whole bunch vinification, and Pierre has chosen the soft pedal in 2013: not much punching down, more an infusion approach, less new wood and perhaps a shorter time in barrel. Pierre can see some elements of 2008 but with more weight, more flattering wines overall.

The 2014 glows with an imperial purple. This is absolutely mouth-filling, with ripe, dark fruit. Beautifully balanced, this has a generous style without being plummy – long and very fine.

Patrice Rion compares 2014 to a mix of 1979 and 1989 for the aromatics and delighted to have been able to pick a more or less normal-sized crop. He began on 12th September with healthy grapes, reinforced by his system of two sorting tables, one before and one after de-stemming. The amount of new oak has been reduced here, now just 30 percent on most cuvées.

Medium deep red-purple, this has beautiful elegance for a Nuits-St Georges; a really graceful wine which also has impressive density. Very lovely.

The domaine has developed its white wine holdings, with four new cuvées this year, arising out of Boisset’s purchase of Vincent Girardin’s business. Girardin had farming arrangements in Puligny- Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet Champ Gain Premier Cru, Bienvenues-Bâtard- Montrachet Grand Cru and a tiny holding of Chevalier-Montrachet: Monsieur Boisset has now bought these vineyards. As well as these excellent whites, Pierre Vincent considers 2014 to be one of his best red wine vintages, with something in common with 2006 and 2010.

From the vineyard right next door to Malconsorts, Boudots is a super Nuits St Georges. A little reduced on the nose but the promise is there. Remarkably smooth with a lovely balance of fresh black and blue berry fruit and toasty oak. Tannins dominate and give structure meaning this will be a delicious wine from the medium to longer term.
Laura Atkinson-Godwin - Private Account Manager

Lovely purple, without being too concentrated, there are some dark fruit flavours on the nose of this fine, classical wine, with super purity, incredible class, length and a very pure finish.

Étienne Grivot reports better yields in 2014, about halfway between the miserable crops of the previous four vintages and what would count as a very good year. The grapes are de-stemmed but preserved fully intact using the newest model of destemmer. They were totally healthy in 2014 and Mathilde Grivot describes the wines as being accessible, fresh, yet still complex. We would add that they are – yet again – amongst the finest of the whole Côte.

The 30 percent whole-bunch component has done wonders for this wine. Beautiful, fresh purple colour, with just a touch of crushed strawberry, this is actually very sensual. There is a fine sense of liveliness at the back and a marvellous, sweet, ripe raspberry fruit, really heavenly. Drink 2022-2030.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With more than 35 vintages under his belt, Patrice Rion considers that 2015 is the finest of his career, offering elegance, acidity and persistence. They began picking on 5th September and finished before the rain which arrived the following weekend. The only sorting that needed doing was to remove any dried-out berries. The yields were acceptable, just 10 percent down in volume on the previous vintage. Unusually, Patrice and his son Maxime have used some whole bunches on certain cuvées, notably the Clos des Argillières and Clos St Marc.

The most backward in its evolution, this wine is a very deep, purple-black colour with plentiful dark cherries on the nose. It has a good, firm structure but the tannins are absolutely covered by the fruit.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

A lovely deep pool of blackberry fruit greets the nose, big and concentrated on the palate, black fruit again and a certain spiciness, mouth-watering acidity and grippy tannins. This is a 1er Cru Nuits for the medium to long term, but will be a real treat when it’s mature.
Chris Pollington - Private Account Manager

Picking began on 24th September through to 5th October, producing a tiny yield in Premeaux after heavy rain during flowering. However, Chambolle survived in places and did go through malolactic fermentation with ease, leaving Nuits-St Georges to be much later. Despite healthy fruit, the crop has been reduced severely, producing as little as 12 hl/ ha in places. Patrice uses 30% new wood on his village wines and 40% for his Premiers Crus. Wines marked as ‘Patrice Rion label’ are officially negoçiant cuvées, but in every case, except the village Chambolle-Musigny, the Rions have done all the vineyard work as well as made the wine.

Bright, fresh purple with good density; this has a beautiful, pure, racy bouquet. There is a wonderful sweetness of fruit across the palate, with a coating of velvet, then a gentler, graceful finish.

Frédéric notes that the grapes were very healthy in 2014, with a “correct” yield, lower than 2009 but the best since then. In any case, Frédéric aims to stay below 35 hl/ha, so the wines will always have a desirable intensity. This being a given, the style here reflects the light hand of the winemaker, with minimal extraction during vinification.

Thibault particularly likes the clay limestone mix in the soil here. The wine has attractive succulent fruit, juicy through the middle, with perfect acid balance. This was really successful this year.

Thibault has made a fine and elegant range of 2014s, with little sign of the reduction which has sometimes prevailed here in the past. He has employed a fair proportion of whole-bunch fermentation, sending a crack team of pickers into the vineyards ahead of the rest to select the healthiest bunches. Another interest at the moment lies in finding the perfect toasting for his barrels, often choosing a minimal approach. We shall also be making a separate offer of Thibault’s brilliant 2014s from his Moulin à Vent estate.

This wine boasts expansive fruit and great concentration. Dense vivid purple in the glass, it has extra layers in the mouth and will go the distance. There is exceptional weight and some complexity, but above all glowing, exuberant fruit. This makes a very complete mouthful with fabulous density, from 70-year-old vines.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Sébastien Cathiard began his second vintage in charge on 22nd September. He has made approximately the same volume of wine in 2012 as 2011, except in the Nuits-St Georges vineyards, but, alas, 2013 will be even less. There are no significant changes to his father’s style, except some progress towards organic viticulture. Sébastien currently uses 2/3 new wood for village wines and 100% for most Premiers Crus. The grapes are entirely de-stemmed before vinification. Note how many cuvées have the benefit of old vines. but fabulous quality.

This is just a little denser in colour than the Clos des Fourches. The bouquet is simply superb: black cherries and ripe plums. The palate has a polished intensity of fruit balanced by an impeccable structure built on ripe tannins. Textbook Nuits-St Georges at the first try!

Bright, deep purple in colour, with a very fresh and exciting, almost flamboyant nose, while absolutely gorgeous purple fruit fills out the mid palate, with good energy and a sense of balance. Good length too.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Thibault’s two domaines, based in Moulin à Vent and Nuits-St Georges, both returned paltry yields of 16 hl/ha in 2012. Among the Côte d’Or appellations, the Hautes Côtes, Nuits and Gevrey-Chambertin suffered in particular. All of which is a great shame, given the quality of the wines which have been made. Even where Thibault purchases grapes (Aloxe-Corton and Chambolle- Musigny), Thibault makes the major decisions in the vineyard management. His own vines are farmed biodynamically, with ploughing by horse.

Heady, dark and succulent fruit present themselves on the nose of the wine, which is both full and satisfying, with a second wave of fruit roaring across the palate at the back. Succulent and ripe, but still very fresh, the grapes for this wine were clearly picked at optimum ripeness.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

We have decided to combine here the wines that fall under the domaine label and those produced officially as négociant wines and labelled as Patrice Rion. Most of these cuvées are from vines managed by Patrice who has one contract to farm the vineyards and another to buy the grapes. The exceptions are the village Chambolle-Musigny and Nuits-St Georges Vieilles Vignes where Patrice is not involved in the farming.

Patrice and son Maxime are tweaking their techniques a little by reducing new oak and slightly increasing extraction in the pre-fermentation stage. These are impressive results – the Nuits-St Georges continues the consistently fine streak of recent years while this is certainly the finest range of Chambolle-Musigny that they have ever produced. 2010 reminds Patrice a little of 1978 and 1991, two vintages with small yields, full ripeness and notable concentration.