Côte de Nuits 2018

From the Les Champs Traversins part of this vineyard, high on the hill and noted for a fine expression of Echézeaux. Silky and spicy, with loads of energy behind a powerful core of dark fruit.

Power and grip, with hedonistic, opulent spice and loads of silky tannins. There’s a fragrance to this, too. Very beautiful energy and power, and such refinement on the finish.

0.63 hectare running from bottom to top on the south side. This has deep mineral notes, and plenty of salty, finessed tannins. A refined yet powerful expression of Clos de Vougeot.

0.63 hectare running from bottom to top on the south side. This has deep mineral notes, and plenty of salty, finessed tannins. A refined yet powerful expression of Clos de Vougeot.

From the Les Champs Traversins part of this vineyard, high on the hill and noted for a fine expression of Echézeaux. Silky and spicy, with loads of energy behind a powerful core of dark fruit.

A powerful vineyard, in 2018 this is off the clock. Notes of exotic spice and rich plums, and also a slight note of coffee. Powerful but shows the vineyard off well.

Power and grip, with hedonistic, opulent spice and loads of silky tannins. There’s a fragrance to this, too. Very beautiful energy and power, and such refinement on the finish.

This prized Nuits vineyard borders the sought-after Vosne Malconsorts. Intense and charming, with volume and nervy depth that fills the palate. Very mineral with lots of ripe fruit, too. This shows Vosne spice and Nuits minerality.

This, from where his winery is based, is one of his benchmarks. Very pretty fruit, with nicely silky tannins and a tense yet concentrated palate. Plenty of power here, but with Hautes-Côtes freshness.

One of the revelations of this year. This vineyard backs onto one of Nuits’ greatest premier crus, and is a village wine undoubtedly of premier cru quality. Glossy fruit with real power, and amazing length for a village wine. There’s lovely minerality on the finish, showing the wines origins clearly.

This, from where his winery is based, is one of his benchmarks. Very pretty fruit, with nicely silky tannins and a tense yet concentrated palate. Plenty of power here, but with Hautes-Côtes freshness.

The 2018 Vosne is incredibly full on, with very ripe dark fruit, and tons of store cupboard spice. There’s texture and intensity, and also just a hint of blood orange on the finish. Powerful and concentrated.

From high up on the slope in Vosne-Romanée, the jewel in Aurélien’s crown. Beaux-Monts is the bomb in 2018. Velvety yet tension, with silky acidity and really fine tannic structure. There’s that salinity on the finish, but also tons of intense and concentrated fruit. A vin de plaisir.

From high up on the slope in Vosne-Romanée, the jewel in Aurélien’s crown. Beaux-Monts is the bomb in 2018. Velvety yet tension, with silky acidity and really fine tannic structure. There’s that salinity on the finish, but also tons of intense and concentrated fruit. A vin de plaisir.

High on the slope and bordering Vosne, offering elements of the two communes. This is very intense, but with beautiful fruit and fragrance. Notes of liquorice and chocolate, and plenty of dark earth. There’s real depth and energy here.

A steep vineyard, reaching up to the combe. A good vintage for Marsannay, with silkier tannins than usual, and more finesse. There’s real salinity - this punches above its weight.

This comes from the very highest point of the Mazoyères section of Charmes, and has remained crunchy and finessed, with stunning energy on the finish. Brilliant from Cyprien.

From right on the border with Gevrey, towards Mazoyères, a wine we’ve backed for years. Dark wild berries, cinnamon and clove here. This is intense and voluminous on the palate, with a lovely salinity on the finish. Gorgeous: not to be overlooked.

Sweet and red-fruited on the nose, with silky tannins and some wonderful depth on the palate. This is a great example of the amplitude and tension found in the 2018s.

40 year old vines in the Clos de la Roche have created a mineral, impressive Grand Cru. Black berries and lovely crunchy fruit and very fine tannins. Stunning Grand Cru.

A 1.3 hectare parcel in the heart of the village creates Amélie’s most approachable wine. This is very stony on the nose, with beautiful energy and nervous energy. There’s delicate fruit here, and stunning length for a wine of this price.

This tiny-yielding vineyard might produce, in our eyes, the best Fixin there is. A really beautiful nose of delicate flowers, with crunchy and cool fruit, and excellent volume and amplitude. This is beautiful.

This steep-sloped vineyard is in the top rank of Gevrey’s premiers crus. This has a wonderful interplay of ripe berries and cool minerality, with salty, grippy tannins, and a beautifully elegant finish.

Amélie calls this parcel her ‘baby’, as she made the decision to bottle it separately in her first year at the estate. The vines are now 70 years old, and in 2018 it is so pure and elegant, with refined tannins and so much finish. Such a beautiful wine.

Just below the grands crus, and Griotte in particular, Aux Etelois is always a particularly elegant Gevrey. Beautiful floral character, this is complex and fine, and such a fine delicate and mineral finish. Simply brilliant on the finish.

Cool and savoury, there’s a real vivacity to this from Pierre. So long and detailed, with focussed fruit and depth on the finish.

From venerable old vines planted in 1920, this is a stunning wine. Detailed blue fruit and wild cherries, this unfurls in waves, with floral notes and opulent spice. Stunning.

They have five parcels here. Sweet strawberry fruit, sumptuous and silky, with a beautiful thread of acidity. There’s a nicely citrus, saline finish.

Their most important holding, they have a full hectare in a vineyard of just nine - ten hectares total. It’s one of Gevrey’s premiers crus that’s a grand cru in all but name. Wonderful nose. Soaring dark cherry and also red berries. That interplay of riper fruit and also cool mineral notes. Amazing focus on the palate, but also such volume that fills the mouth.

Their most important holding, they have a full hectare in a vineyard of just nine - ten hectares total. It’s one of Gevrey’s premiers crus that’s a grand cru in all but name. Wonderful nose. Soaring dark cherry and also red berries. That interplay of riper fruit and also cool mineral notes. Amazing focus on the palate, but also such volume that fills the mouth.

This high premier cru is always one of our favourites. You really feel the limestone here, giving purity and vibrancy to the palate. There’s notes of iodine and sea spray, and a lovely floral lift on the finish. Beautiful.

This wine from the Côte Chalonnaise is a bottle to buy every year. It’s an 11 hectare monopole of Faiveley. Crunchy, juicy fruit, with notes of cumin and cinnamon. Mouthwatering, it’s a wine you just want to drink.

Always the coolest of the Chambertin grands crus, in 2018 it’s a huge success. There’s a wildness here, with stony minerality, and incredibly complex fruit. This is so long and savoury, and so complex. Wonderful.

This vineyard produces, in our opinion the greatest wine in Corton. Powerful, complex, nuanced, and elegant, all at once, this is an astonishing Clos des Cortons. Beautiful.

This special cuvée comes from the oldest vines in Faiveley’s Clos de Bèze holding, and was first produced in 2011. Complex and intense, this is a remarkable wine. An honour to taste.

From 65 year old vines, this is really spicy and pure, with notes of cinnamon, dark cherries, iodine and wild flowers. This is really fresh and, dare I say it, charming.

As the name suggests, this is situated in the heart of Chambolle-Musigny, a monopole of the domaine that we’d argue is premier cru quality. There’s lots of limestone in the soil here, and that makes a nervous, lifted, long wine. This is very complex, with a beautifully juicy and long finish.

As the name suggests, this is situated in the heart of Chambolle-Musigny, a monopole of the domaine that we’d argue is premier cru quality. There’s lots of limestone in the soil here, and that makes a nervous, lifted, long wine. This is very complex, with a beautifully juicy and long finish.

This Chambolle domaine has vines in two plots on either side of Nuits St Georges: Les Chariots in the south and Aux Lavières in the north. It carries the domaine's signature style of supple, juicy fruit enrobed in delicious oak, making for a silky, luxurious Nuits.

Beautiful cherry fruit. Delicate, fresh, lovely purity and also plenty of juicy berries on the finish. Very saline and defined.

This monopole in the heart of Vosne is now undoubtedly back where it should be: among the appellation’s very finest wines. The vines average 50 years old thinks Nicole. Spicy and elegant, finesse yet power on the nose. It grows, with citrus fruit, cinnamon spice, pomegranate, grapefruit and fresh almonds. Such salinity on the palate, very fine and juicy, with unfurling notes of cherry, darker fruit, and spice. Complexity, volume, and length.

Nicole always shows this after the Vosne premiers crus at the estate, such is its power and intensity. This is textured and grippy, with lovely savoury top notes, and just a hint of iron oxide on the finish.

From a parcel in Concoer-et-Courboin, just up the hill from Vosne. This is fresh, savoury, with wild flowers and plenty of fresh berry fruit. A beautiful Hautes-Côtes.

Almost a marzipan cherry character on the nose: like a refined cherry bakewell! Lovely fruit, so pure and almost blood orange on the finish. Focus and finesse, intensity in the core, delicacy and purity on the palate. Brilliant.

Drawn from three plots across the grand cru. Nice nose, more closed but there’s an opulence and depth here, with soaring spice and plenty of vibrancy, too. A lot of intensity in the palate. Such volume and focus, with such beautiful tannins.

Les Suchots is one of Burgundy’s most prized terroirs. Wonderful, soaring fruit, with citrus, a touch of opulence, but also plenty of restraint here. Suchots could have been overblown in 2018, but it’s been brilliantly managed by Nicole.

This comes from four different plots. It’s spicy and silky, with beautifully juicy and finessed tannins. Such a beautiful Vosne.

From high up the Nuits slope, on the Vosne side of the village, this is cool, mineral and dark, with a really suave finish.

Made from old vines, planted in 1955, with low yields, this is spectacular - one of the best Bourgognes we know. Energetic, focussed, and with such amplitude. Delicious.

65% of this comes from Rouges du Bas, the rest from the Quartier de Nuits section of the vineyard. Voluptuous, intense, and soaring, this is stunningly beautiful and open in 2018.

Incredibly pure in 2018, notes of baked earth, wild berries, and lots of floral notes all swirl from the glass. The palate is finessed and very pure, with a finish that lasts an age. Brilliant.

This comes from Ruchottes du Bas, an equal split of vines 17 years old and 67 years old. Much more shy today, but this is clearly an incredible wine in 2018. Astonishing length.

This is a stunning Chambolle in 2018. It has the ripeness of the vintage, but still with a lovely floral, mineral lift.

From the Bons Batons vineyard just across the road from Chambolle itself. Notes of rose petal and fresh berries, with citrus and a hint of pomegranate. This is a beautifully pure, finessed Chambolle.

Incredibly open and refined on the day we tasted, this is Chambolle personified. Peppery and pure, with silky tannins and notes of violets and red berry fruit. This is really finessed and saline, with an impressively long finish.

Very pretty premier cru, with creamy morello cherries, graphite, and plenty of blood orange. This is long and mouthwatering. A lovely expression of Chambolle.

Down towards the bottom of the hillside, there are still quite a lot of stones in this vineyard, of which they have 0.72 hectares. Ghislaine picked it on the 26 August. Iron oxide and rose petals, and so much energy here. This is really brilliantly focussed: it was picked at the right time.

Taken from plots in Comblanchien, this has fast become one of our favourite bargain reds. Fresh and silky, and surprisingly long for a wine of this price.

“Bousselots” means “little bumps”, but this premier cru’s clay-rich soils make for a rounded and approachable Nuits-Saint-Georges. Complex and generous, with plenty of cool fruit coming from that clay in the soil.

From the Vosne side of Nuits, bordering the town.This is silky but with plenty of grip and structure. Long: a very good village wine.

Aloxe-Corton may not be typically highly prized, but in the hands of winemakers like Etienne the results can be impressive - and good value. In 2018 it’s a huge success. Juicy and finessed, with plenty of volume on the finish.

In 2018, Etienne’s Echézeaux is intense and powerful, with incredible definition of fruit. Very structured, with silky tannins - but still such a baby.

A crunchy, refreshing Bourgogne from a talented winemaker, this has lovely fragrance and precision on the finish.

In 2018, Charles’ Vosne has intense strawberry fruit and loads of spice. This is very long and defined for a village wine.

Hudelot-Noëllat have perfectly placed vines in the Clos de Vougeot, at the base of the château. Cool and dark, with well-refined tannins, warmer vintages like 2018 ensure that Clos Vougeot is not at all rustic.

Les Murgers is one of the finest positioned vineyards in Nuits, in the heart of the hillside on the Vosne-Romanée side of the town. This is intense and dark in 2018, with lovely, mineral tannins. Shows the best of both villages.

High up the hill, on the limestone, this is nervy yet intense and really explosive in 2018. Notes of raspberry and wild flowers, and cinnamon on the finish. Nicely refined tannins.

A large hectare parcel of this amazing vineyard creates a brilliant wine at this estate. Spicy yet elegant, it shows how good Vosne can be.

A Lay & Wheeler favourite for years, from up to 90 year old vines, half of which are next to Lavaux in the combe, and another fifteen parcels. Fragrant, long, and very complex.

At the bottom of the slope of grand cru Chapelle-Chambertin.Notes of kirsch, fresh dark cherries, and baked earth. Very rich and intense, there’s just enough freshness to keep it lifted and mouthwatering.

Fixin is often overlooked, but it’s a source of some great value village wines. From the south of Fixin, there’s texture and freshness here, with plenty of energy on the palate. This is delicate and refined, with an enjoyably long finish.

90 year old vines produce a simply magnificent wine. Intense and pure, with excellent tension, this is really very good. There are crunchy red cherries, and a savoury finish: a nice balance of sweet and sour.

Strawberries and wild flowers, with mineral tang and plenty of soft, grippy tannins. There’s nice density here, with lovely purity on the finish.

From Mazoyères, rather than Charmes itself. There’s unfurling notes of berries and spice, with lots of wildness to the fruit. This is very driven on the finish, with plenty of delicacy.

The Grivots’ Pruliers is a wonderful example of how Nuits from the south side of the village can clearly show its origins, without being rustic. Notes of baked earth and dark fruit, with definition and silkiness on the finish. A very serious Nuits.

From the Vosne side of Nuits, always an impressive cuvée. You really feel the rock in this outstanding village cuvée. Savoury and mineral, there’s a juicy, fruity finish.

The wine for which the domaine is perhaps best known (this, or their Richebourg!). Deep and dark and herbal, with almost a linseed oil character. Such purity here, but certainly feel the tannins and intensity. Lovely berry fruit, very long, energetic and dense. Amplitude but comes back together on the finish.

Made from very old vine Gamay from the communes of Flagey and Vosne, this cuvée was first made in 2012. Plenty of supple fruit, with real energy on the finish. Delicious.

From seven different terroirs, this has beautiful spice and dark, ripe, textured fruit on the palate. There’s just a hint of cassis on the long, energetic finish.

Beaux Monts is always one of the most impressive wines from this cellar, and this is silky on the palate. Deep, dark and voluptuous, there are beautiful tannins and such poise here. This has incredible intensity of fruit, but also such vibrancy and life.

From the Vignes Blanches section of the vineyard, noted for its chalky soils, as well as Cruots, bordering Vosne. Suave and intense. Opulent fruit with such resonance, this is intense and silky, with very good tannic development. Mineral and long and saline. Profound.