Nuits-Saint-Georges
1er Cru Les Terres Blanches 2020
Nuits-Saint-Georges is one of those magical names that visitors recite like a rosary. Known the whole world over, Nuits-Saint-Georges has the original profile of a genuine wine village, but on the scale of a small town.
Origin
The Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation has only 6.79 ha of white premier cru. A rarity!
The plot "Les Terres Blanches" located at the edge of the forest of the Mountain on the village of Premeaux-Prissey offers the most famous chardonnays of the appellation. Exposed south, the soil is predominantly limestone, it is light and very filtering. Dotted with small white gravel, it gives its name to the climate.
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot blanc
Soils: mostly limestone, light and very filtering.
Orientation: South
Surface area under vine: 0.083 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 55 hL/ha
Average age of the vine: 42 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 28 August 2020.
The grapes were handpicked.
At the winery: the whole bunches of grapes were gently pressed for 2½ hours. The temperature of the must was brought down to 12°C then was immediately transferred to demi-muid (450L barrel) of a wine with no settling to preserve a maximum of lees. Long fermentation using indigenous yeasts for added complexity and freshness.
Ageing
Maturation: aged for 19 months with no racking or stirring to bring out all of this wine’s minerality.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a subtle, delicate touch of oak were used.
Bottling
Maturation: aged for 19 months with no racking or stirring to bring out all of this wine’s minerality.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a subtle, delicate touch of oak were used.
Vintage
Balanced and concentrated
The harvests happened back-to-front! They began with the reds ripening before the whites. The harvest was very disease-free but we had to eliminate sunburnt berries, especially in the case of the Pinot Noir vines as the Chardonnays had coped better with the heat. Quality was definitely good, but relatively low juice yields has resulted in Pinot Noirs with high colour and aromatic intensity. On the other hand, the Chardonnay vines produced adequate yields with a good balance of sugar and acidity. This optimal ripeness enabled us to harvest the red grapes in certain plots according to the ‘vendange entière’ approach, where stalks are fermented along with the grapes.
'Lots of lovely colour in the reds, with very high polyphenol content, firm tannins and excellent levels of acidity. Looks set to be a year with great cellaring potential. Summer fruit coulis notes definitely have the upper hand in this year’s vintage! The whites are nicely-balanced, but it’s too early to be more precise. Watch this space…’ Grégory Patriat.
Ageing potential: 7 years and more.
Tasting notes
With a beautiful pale yellow color with golden reflections, this wine reveals a powerful bouquet of citrus zests associated with notes of white flowers and smoke. On the palate, this wine is silky, almost "juicy" with a very good length.
