2018 Robert Chevillon Nuits Les Cailles

Mid purple, with an open accessible dark red fruit nose. Ripe fruit fills the mouth, perhaps with a touch of raisin but mostly in the first flush of fleshy youth, with a good follow through. Though within the affected area, this wine has absolutely no indication of any hail damage. 91-94 points

The 2018 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Cailles 1er Cru has a complex bouquet, a mélange of red and black fruit, crushed rocks, rose petals, desiccated orange peel and touches of black pepper, all wonderfully detailed and precise. The palate is nicely balanced with an energetic opening, delivering red berry fruit, savory notes of black truffle and meat juices and real sapidity toward the finish. This is a superb Les Cailles, very mercurial in the glass and constantly shape-shifting. Superb. 93-95 points

Usually the “Big Three” at Domaine Chevillon are the best wines in the cellars, but this distinction is not quite so clear cut in 2018, as all three of these vineyards, to some degree, were peripherally affected by the hail in July. It is not that the les Cailles is less pure than the wines that preceded it, but perhaps it is a bit more chewy and tannic. The black fruity bouquet is deep, very pure and sappy but also quite powerful, offering up scents of black cherries, black raspberries, plums, venison, a good base of soil, woodsmoke, chocolate and just a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is ripe, powerful and broad-shouldered, with a rock solid core of fruit, firm, chewy tannins, good acids and a very, very long, youthful and promising finish. Drink 2035-2075+. 93 points

The 2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Cailles wafts from the glass with a lovely bouquet of cassis, plums, dark chocolate, grilled squab and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly layered and complete, it`s muscular but refined, with a rich chassis of ripe tannin and an ample core of fruit, concluding with a long, perfumed finish. 93-9 5 points

The natural refinement of Les Cailles is very much on display with its cool, pure and airy aromas of red and dark pinot fruit along with a lovely range of spice, tea and discreet earth nuances. As is usually the case, this is notably more refinement to the strikingly well-delineated medium-bodied flavors that possess an almost pungent minerality though the finish, while impressively long, is a bit grippy and a touch warm as well. This is still quite good but I fear the hail damage will prevent this from achieving its usual level. 90-92 points