Nuits-Saint-Georges 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
Half way between Dijon and Beaune, and with an eastern exposure, the vines of Nuits-Saint-Georges extend for 6 kilometres and cover 160 hectares of the village appellation. The local variation in soils, exposure and location produce a great diversity of terroir. The area as a whole is bisected by the little Meuzin river and its valley, and by the village itself.
2020 was marked by rather low yields, due to the drought and a hail episode during the summer. Also our Nuits-Saint-Georges is a blend of four parcels, "Le Coteau des Bois", "Tribourg" and its neighbor "Belle Croix" as well as "les Charbonnières".
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot noir
Soils: Different types of soil: brown limestone and very poor soil composed of gravel.
Orientation: South/South-East
Surface area under vine: 1.07 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 23 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: about 50 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 3,5 & 6 September 2020.
The grapes were handpicked.
They were sorted a first time in the vineyard and again on the sorting table when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: the grapes were 40% destemmed but not crushed (they were left whole) and were gravity-fed into tanks. Maceration with 60% of entire grapes lasted a total of 18 days including 5 days of cold maceration (12°C). Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only (no additives such as enzymes or tannins were used). 4 punchings of the cap. Vinification without sulfur.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 11 months with no racking using a proportion of 33% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time for very delicate oaking.
Bottling
Bottling: The wine was gently filtered before being bottled at the end of September 2021.
Number of bottles: 2,794.
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: From 7 to 12 years.
Awards
JamesSuckling.com - 96/100
Bourgogne Aujourd'hui Magazine - 15,5/20
Tasting notes
With a beautiful brilliant dark red color, this wine reveals a very expressive and complex bouquet of forest fruits and floral aromas. The mouth is fleshy, crisp and very greedy. A wine that preserves a nice freshness in this sunny vintage!
