Zen and pizzazz
Three must-have producers today. In Nuits-St-Georges our favourite visit was to Domaine Henri Gouges, where we were received by Antoine (Gouges) for the first time, cousin of Greg and a fourth generation Gouges. Here they were most concerned with the possibility of sunburn on the fruit, so were careful with the amount of leaf cover they left on the vines. Yields are also a worry. 'Normal' is 35 hl/hectare but this was only 24 in 2015 and nearly half that in 2016 to look forward to.
Etienne Grivot represents the 5th generation of Grivots making wine here, and the years of experience behind him show - tasting the 15s was the top visit of the week. I would not be exaggerating to describe them as amazeballs across the range. Etienne describes the vintage as the spirit of 2005. He says the wines are voluptuous but sophisticated.
'Soft but persistent tannins' are the hallmark of the vintage in the words of Jean-Nicholas at Meo-Camuzet. He destemmed almost every wine, with only the Chambolle Les Cras containing some whole bunch fruit. He says the level of ripeness and the acidity - little malic but plenty of tartaric - makes the wines easy to taste and will allow them to develop very well, retaining their purity of fruit. That is exactly how they showed at our tasting, together with that Meo-Camuzet slightly indefinable plushness. /CW
