Côte de Nuits 2021: New Releases

A wine we've backed for years now, from a single vineyard in the Hautes Cotes. This shows good ripeness but yet still excellent intensity of fruit. There's a nice lift on the finish: a brilliant example from the Hautes-Cotes.

Frankly, this is utterly gorgeous, a wine of such charm and weight, a nice little touch of acidity. This has major staying power, what’s not to like! Wonderful length and class here.

This is made from 40 year old vines from Morey, Chambolle and Vougeot. OKA is the name of one of the Arlaud draught horses. This cuvée is matured for 18 months with only 25% new oak. Intense notes of red fruits, raspberries. Delicate and silky on the palate, with a long, fine finish.

In Aux Allots we find the domaine’s oldest vines, though how old precisely is unknown. The family bought the vineyard which sits on the Vosne-Romaéee side of the village in 1969. It had been planted long before then, although the exact date has been lost to history. This wine has an enthralling depth of berry fruit, with a minty lift on the nose, and just a hint of licorice adding a further dimension. Textural and complex, this is an outstanding Nuits-St-Georges.

This is a flagship wine of the domaine, and at two hectares represents around a third of production. It’s an incredibly steep site just above Les Vaucrains which had been abandoned since the phylloxera crisis until Bertrand terraced and planted it in 2001. There is slightly darker, fuller fruit than that found in the 2019, but with the brightness of acidity it feels balanced and very complete, unforced and charming.

This parcel in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, right next to Axelle’s cellar, sits at 450 metres altitude. The isolated parcel is naturally low yielding anyway, and, she says, naturally pruned by the local deer. As a result, it's an Aligoté with the yield of a grand cru, Axelle laments in jest. The vines are around 50 years old and around 10% of the vineyard is an old Burgundian variety, Melon de Bourgogne, more commonly found in Muscadet these days. The wine is energetic and delicious, brimming with apples and apricots, and a lacy, fine texture.

Fragile old vines planted in 1964 produce a wine of surprising structure from this site. The concentration of fruit, the frame of tannins, and the long drive on the back-palate are perhaps more in line with the traditional image of Nuits-St-Georges than Axelle’s Vallerots cuvées. This quintessential Nuits cuvée has superb length, with some welcome Nuits-St-Georges structure giving it power and presence.

Whilst most of the vineyard is terrassed (and goes into the blend bearing that name), a small half hectare section is not, having been planted in 1984. It might be difficult to farm, and very hard work to harvest, but it’s well worth it for the wine it produces. It is rich in berry fruit, with a wonderful structure that sees a seamless marriage between fruit, body, tannin and acidity. There is so much purity and energy here. A crystalline snapshot of the more elegant side of Nuits.

What a Bourgogne Rouge this is. It comes from a parcel in Nuits-St-Georges, at the south end of the commune, not far from Les St Georges. The soils here are stony and poor, not as deep as some Bourgogne vineyards can be, and make a superbly balanced wine, sweetly fruited and with a wonderful fluidity.

A rare Vosne-Romanée from Axelle whose vineyards mostly lie in Nuits-St-Georges. As gorgeous as it is scarce, with deep velvety fruit and a long, refined finish.

Bruno Clair has an impressive 10 hectares in his home village of Marsannay. He bottles five separate cuvées, including this wonderful iteration from a single parcel at the southern end of the commune, on the slope that rises up behind the village. Its name (meaning “fat heads”) refers not to anybody involved in its cultivation, but rather the large rocks that show through the surface of the clay soil. It is typically the most structured and powerful of the Clair Marsannays, and in 2021 it is muscular and tightly coiled, reminiscent of Gevrey-Chambertin. It has fantastic fruit concentration, and with the structure and freshness to age wonderfully. This is quintessential Marsannay, and quintessential Clair.

This wine from the Côte Chalonnaise is one of the bargains of Burgundy. It performs every year, and offers excellent value. The 2021 is so fragrant with attractive wild strawberry and rose petal aromas. On the palate, this is expressive, plum and berry-fruited, with ripe, silky tannins and a long, saline finish.

This is one of the most exciting Hautes-Côtes de Nuits out there. It comes from a parcel in Concoeur-et-Courboin, on the hills just above Vosne. It has crunchy red fruit, and light and fragrant body, with fine but peppery tannins giving it agile length. Lovely energy and vibrancy.

Unlike some Côteaux Bourguignons which are a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir, this is 100% Gamay, from a parcel of very old vines (60-70 years old) the Grivots inherited via the Jayers, one of whom was married to Etienne’s father. Wild red cherry with a slight gamey note on the nose. The palate is nicely balanced and focussed with lively acidity and plenty of juicy red berry fruit.

This large seven hectare vineyard in the hills above Nuits-St-Georges has wonderful limestone soils, quite similar to those found on the hill of Corton, though with a much fresher climate, thanks to its elevation. The vines were planted in the 1970s and 1980s, and at full maturity are producing great concentration, and some interesting and complex layers in the wine. It is expressively concentrated, with linear acidity and some power behind the tannin to sustain a long, mineral finish.

This is a bright and lively, salty and fruity white from the cool, chalky-soiled village of Saint-Romain.

This can proudly lay claim as the only Premier Cru Aligoté in Burgundy. It’s an unusual wine that has gained a loyal following over the years, and deservedly so, not just for its niche appeal, but also for its superb quality, texture, and freshness. 30% of the blend comes from younger vines, whilst 70% is drawn from the vines planted in 1911. It offers up gorgeous acidity, lively fresh fruit flavours and silky flow in its youth. With age the wine can develop a complex curry/spiced orange character not unlike an old Chenin Blanc or Riesling. A remarkable wine.

This is the most flamboyant, exotically perfumed, and heady of the Ponsot white wines. It has a creamy, silken texture, and delicious greengage and orange blossom notes on the palate. It comes from two parcels, Languettes and Le Charlemagne.

This draws on a high proportion of young vines, and is one of the earlier drinking in the Ponsot cellar, though it will of course mature with interest if you choose to lay it down. It has a deep fruit core, and such a juicy expression, thanks to the domaine’s low yields and high ripeness levels.

This was the first parcel they converted to biodynamics in 1997, so this lovely vineyard in Gevrey-Chambertin has now benefitted from over two decades of low-intervention farming. In 2021, it has wonderful, briar fruit and floral aromatics and it’s energetic and light on its feet, with a wonderfully long, mineral finish.

A fresh, bright, and textured Aligoté from the Hautes-Côtes with a salty bite to the finish. Waxy lemon and pear aromas on the nose. This is the only white in the Cathiard range, and recent purchases mean it will grow in volume in the future.

Most of the fruit comes from the Côte de Nuits, with the majority from around Nuits itself, with the balance from the Côte de Beaune. The fruit is the star of the show here - strawberries, raspberries, red plum. It is a fresh and crunchy style of bourgogne, with enough bite to give it a vibrant length. It should drink well from a young age. And it’s an absolute bargain.

This parcel actually used to be classified as a village parcel, and winemaker Mark seems particularly fond of it. It is really elegant and refined in 2021, with a hint of Gevrey’s density and spice. There’s a delicious hint of blood orange on the palate giving this a lift, there’s fine grained tannins and a long and pure, fruity finish. It’s one of the best Bourgogne Rouges you’ll find.

This is drawn from a couple of parcels on the south side of the commune towards Fixin and Gevrey-Chambertin. In 2021, it has a ripe fruit profile, with red plum and wild strawberry, and some spicy, supple tannins giving it an elegant and fine edge. It has body and impact and is deliciously long with a saline finish.