NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES > BOUCHARD Ainé & Fils

NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES 2021

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2021 2022 2023

Varietal

100% Pinot Noir.

Tasting notes

Colour: Sustained, bright cherry red.

Nose: Cinnamon, cloves and Morello cherries, with hints of liquorice and blond tobacco.

Palate: Full-bodied and persistent. Furs, spices and truffles. This wine is powerful and complex, full-bodied and solid. This is perhaps where Pinot finds its best harmony between tannins and roundness.

Food and wine pairing

The perfect accompaniment to dishes with a savoury sauce, roasted game, roasted and grilled red meats, cheeses.

Serving suggestions

Serve ideally between 15°C and 16°C / 59-61°F.

Ageing potential

This wine can be kept easily between 8 and 10 years.

Origins

A Côte de Nuits appellation which takes its name from the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges. The appellation extends over 304 hectares, with 143 hectares classified as Premier Cru. It produces almost only red wines, but some white wines can be found (<1% of the production). 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. 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.

Vinification and maturing

The grapes are collected in small ventilated crates, then painstakingly sorted at a table. Next, the grapes are entirely destemmed but not crushed (they remain whole) and transferred by gravity into a wooden vat. Maceration lasts around 3 weeks, with more-or-less frequent cap punching. The wine is aged for 14 to 16 months in oak barrels (20% new oak). Lastly, the wine is bottled with very light filtration.

Vintage : 2021

The 2021 vintage was a challenge for winegrowers right up until the very last day. From the frost in April, made worse by a very early start to the winegrowing season, right through to the September harvest, it was characterized by some brutal shifts in the weather. Winegrowers had to be extremely reactive and attentive. The only moment of respite came with flowering, which was ideal for fruit formation, and véraison, which was accompanied by sunshine from mid-August. In the end, hard work was rewarded with success, low volumes aside.

Aside from the low yields due to frost, and hail in June in certain parts of the Mâconnais, the grapes were sorted meticulously, both in the vines and in the winery.

Anyway, 2021 is an interesting vintage to work as it requires great technical skill and vinification must be very precise. Although fermentation was rapid, one had to pay a great deal of attention to the extraction of tannins and colour for the reds, and to the aromatic balance of the whites. The impression from the first tastings is that the musts have good aromatic potential and the sugar-acidity ratio suggests a style appreciated by fans of Bourgogne wines.