Nuits Saint Georges
Originally known as Nuits, or even Nuits-sous-Beaune, the town was happy to add the name of its finest vineyard, Les St Georges, in the 19th century. There are no Grands Crus, but many fine Premier Cru vineyards, the mayor of the time preferring not to single out any vineyard for the highest status. The most sought-after wines include Les Vaucrains, Les Cailles and Les St Georges itself.
Learn more about Nuits Saint Georges
Originally known as Nuits, or even Nuits-sous-Beaune, the town was happy to add the name of its finest vineyard, Les St Georges, in the 19th century. There are no Grands Crus, but many fine Premier Cru vineyards, the mayor of the time – Henri Gouges – preferring not to single out any vineyard for the highest status.
The wines of Nuits-St Georges vary according to their exact provenance. Those of the hamlet of Prémeaux, considered to be part of Nuits-St Georges for viticultural purposes, are often on the lighter side.The richest and most sought-after are those just south of Nuits-St Georges such as Les Vaucrains, Les Cailles and Les St Georges itself. The third sector, including Les Murgers, Les Damodes and Les Boudots are at the Vosne-Romanée end of the village, and demonstrate some of the extra finesse associated with Vosne.
Several domaines (Gouges, Rion, Arlot) now produce a white Nuits-St Georges from Pinot Blanc or Chardonnay.
- 175 hectares of village Nuits-St Georges
- 143 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (20 in all). Best vineyards include Les St Georges, and Clos des Argillières and Clos de la Maréchale in Prémeaux
- Recommended producers: Gouges, Rion, Liger Belair, Potel
- Recommended restaurant : La Cabotte (small but stylish)
Prices:
Bottle
£30.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 41cs
Bottle
£30.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 2cs
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.
Bottle
£35.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 63cs
Having created a name for himself as régisseur (general manager) of Domaine du Comte Armand in Pommard, Benjamin Leroux established, with English backing, a small négociant business, based in Beaune since 2007. The possibilities are very exciting for this exceptionally talented vigneron. Benjamin is a master at delivering purity of fruit alongside a seamless texture in his wines, which have only the subtlest influence of oak.
From vines currently undergoing organic conversion, Benjamin Leroux has fashioned this delicious Nuits-St Georges; a wine with a vibrant bouquet of red cherries and fresh plums, and lovely, rich, ripe fruit across the palate. Drink this suave and succulent Burgundy with poultry, lamb or rare roast beef.
Bottle
£35.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 132cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
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 negoiant cuves, but in every case, except the village Chambolle-Musigny, the Rions have done all the vineyard work as well as made the wine.
Bottle
£39.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 31cs
Bottle
£43.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 7cs
Bottle
£43.80
Bottle 6 x 75cl 17cs
Bottle
£45.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 8cs
Bottle
£47.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
As far as supply is concerned it’s a topsy turvy position in 2012. Overall, Ben has made plenty of wine but some cuvées are missing this year. The best volumes are with the Chassagne-Montrachet Premiers Crus, which are always a strong point chez Benjamin. From a standing start in 2007 Benjamin has made truly exciting progress, and has grown his business a little more quickly than expected as great opportunities have come his way. Yet each year he still doesn’t seem to have quite enough wine to satisfy demand.
Bottle
£47.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 14cs
Bottle
£49.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 24cs
This was the first domaine vineyard, purchased by Joseph Faiveley in the mid 19th century. Dense dark purple, with very explosive fruit, it is sensual at first then sturdy, long and fine with a crunchy depth of flavour.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director
The resurgence begun by the trio of Erwan Faiveley, Bernard Hervé and winemaker Jérôme Flous, who arrived in 2007, is very apparent in this brilliant series of 2011 wines. They began the harvest on 31 August and picked for 9 days. There are some new wines this year from a contract for the whole production of an estate in Chambolle-Musigny and the Faiveley white wines from totally healthy grapes are particularly successful in 2011, perhaps the best we have seen from the new regime.
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 6cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
During the last year, Etienne de Montille, who has run Château de Puligny-Montrachet for the last decade, bought out the previous owners. 2012 will therefore be the first vintage of the new regime and also the first which will be fully certified organic after completion of the necessary three years. In 2011 the Château has produced a good crop of white wines, with old-fashioned low alcohol levels in both the reds and whites: wines originally found to be around 12% abv have been adjusted to 12.5% abv, anything above that was untouched. An intensely floral nose combines with notes of spicy green tea, anise, earth and a hint of the sauvage. There is a seductive, even silky mouth feel to the very supple, round and delicious flavors that are underpinned by dusty tannins on the well-balanced and persistent finish. Lovely stuff fashioned in an understated style.
Allen Meadows - burghound.com - Apr 2013
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 109cs
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.
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 19cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Erwan Faiveley believes that 2014 would be regarded as a great vintage – if only 2015 had not come along to trump it. He feels that the changes which have taken place in the cellar since 2007 have had a discernible effect on the quality of Faiveley wines, while similar qualitative changes in the vineyard are only now bearing fruit. Here, balanced but restricted yields are the key.
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 32cs
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 26cs
The vines in the Rue de Chaux vineyard were planted in 1930 and regularly suffer from millerandage, meaning the grapes produced are very small, which typically results in a rich and deeply coloured wine. The sunny 2012 vintage provides spicy cassis fruit, generous weight and silky tannins while the east-facing exposition of the vineyard adds a thread of mineral acidity, ensuring the wine remains fresh and vibrant.
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 14cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Despite this being a very late season, Patrice compares 2013 to the fruit of early vintages such as 2007 and 2011, but with more stuffing. It also reminds him of 1980, a particularly successful vintage chez Rion. The 2013 crop is a small one though, a touch more than 2012 but less than 2011. They employed two sorting tables, and since the grapes which reached the vats were all healthy, they used less sulphur during vinification.
Bottle
£58.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 93cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
The blend for this Nuits-St Georges, Clos des Argillières is of fruit from the old vines (1945 and 1954) mixed with a few barrels of younger vines (1979). A fabulous, sumptuous nose of plums and Morello cherries wafts from the glass, while the palate has lovely weight and a fine, mineral finish, without the harder edge occasionally found in the past.
Bottle
£59.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 37cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bright red and black fruit, rich and velvety on nose. Delightful black fruit on the palate, rich and pure, but with some fine, grippy tannins keeping it all in check. Yet another triumph from the talented Pierre Vincent of Domaine de la Vougeraie.
Chris Pollington, Fine Wine
The Clos comprises three hectares in all, but half is being replanted. The rest are 40-year-old vines. There is deep red fruit on the nose which blossoms gloriously in the glass and continues on the palate, leaving a rosy glow behind. A spectacular debut vintage.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
This superb domaine grows in reputation and also in size: this year sees the first vintage of Nuits-St Georges, Clos de Thorey. Look out for even further additions in the next two years. Winemaker Pierre Vincent’s style is for lighter colours and very sensual wines and he has done a cracking job again in 2012; a vintage which supported the plentiful use of whole bunch fermentation. The domaine is certified organic and fully biodynamic.
Bottle
£59.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 16cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Magnum 3 x 150cl 2cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
The new era at Faiveley is now into its sixth vintage and the house style, which allows the fruit to express itself in a very seductive manner while enhancing the individual qualities of each terroir, has been safely established. Now the management is concentrating on reinforcing their supplybase with some crafty contracts and vineyard purchases in both Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. We may be able to offer more cuvées in the future, and though opportunities are clearly limited by the 2012 vintage circumstances, we have been well looked after this year.
Bottle
£65.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 32cs
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.
Bottle
£65.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 31cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Faiveley use three picking teams. Two started in the white wine vineyards on 28th September and were finished in four days. Then it was all hands to the red grapes. In general the harvest came in healthily, the hard work all year round in the vineyards paying dividends. We were once again very impressed.
Bottle
£65.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 33cs
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.
Bottle
£65.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 13cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
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.
Bottle
£67.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 118cs
Magnum
£135.00
Magnum 6 x 150cl 3cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Despite this being a very late season, Patrice compares 2013 to the fruit of early vintages such as 2007 and 2011, but with more stuffing. It also reminds him of 1980, a particularly successful vintage chez Rion. The 2013 crop is a small one though, a touch more than 2012 but less than 2011. They employed two sorting tables, and since the grapes which reached the vats were all healthy, they used less sulphur during vinification.
Bottle
£67.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 53cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Harvest began during the last week in September and finished just before the storm. There was less whole bunch vinification for the wines affected by hail, but Volnay Taillepieds, Pommard Rugiens, Corton Clos du Roi and the wines from the Côte de Nuits were all predominantly vinified with their stems.
Bottle
£67.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 5cs
Full of violets and black cherries, this is classy and seductive. It is powerful, structured and concentrated; it may be quite reserved at present but this wine always blossoms beautifully in the bottle and has long-term potential.
Patrice and son Maxime Rion are tweaking their techniques a little by reducing new oak and slightly increasing extraction in the pre-fermentation stage. The results are impressive; in 2011 the wines have come in naturally at around 12.5% alcohol and they show a true sense of balance.
Bottle
£69.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 17cs
Magnum
£138.00
Magnum 6 x 150cl 4cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Laura Atkinson-Godwin - Private Account Manager
Bottle
£69.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 28cs
The palate is taut and fresh on the entry. It does not possess great depth like many a Lavieres, but it displays a vibrant citric finish that lends vigor and freshness. This will probably be earlier drinking than other 2012 from Grivot.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Dec 2013
Bottle
£69.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
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.
Bottle
£69.50
This delicious old vine bottling of Nuits St Georges comes from Les Plateaux vineyard, tucked in behind the town itself. It boasts a fine bright red purple colour, with delicious red fruit and a plum note or two. Very pure and fine.
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer