2020 Beaune Clos de La Mignotte 1er Cru

Somehow I turned up at the right time on the wrong day at Domaine Georges Noëllat. Fortunately, winemaker Maxime Chuerlin was able to gather samples at short notice, both his Domaine bottlings and those under his namesake négociant label. There were just a couple of cuvées that had just been racked and unable to be tasted. Chuerlin has become a bit of a young superstar since taking over from his grandmother in 2010 after growing up not in Burgundy but in Champagne. There was a short period when I wondered whether adulation had come too soon or too quickly, when some vintages demonstrated a little too much oak and occasionally a little volatility. However, the last two or three vintages have shown that he has a steady hand on the tiller and both his 2018 and 2019 rank among the best I have tasted at the Domaine. The wines have achieved greater finesse and precision. Decisions like adding whole bunches into his Grands Echézeaux have enhanced the wine, taken it to a new level, indeed, I think he is at a stage where I would like to see a little more stem addition subject to the growing season. These are generally outstanding wines that I strongly suspect will age extremely well.

Winemaker Maxime Chuerlin revealed his hidden talent this visit...he speaks rather good English. His tends to be one of those Frenchmen that speak rapidly without any breaks between words, which can be tricky when simultaneously translating/typing in English. But lo and behold, his English is great, albeit enunciated at the same lightning speed. He told me that he picked from 27 August for his white and 3 September for reds in the Côte de Beaune and finished on 19 September in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits, yields at 30hl/ha and with alcohol levels landing between 13.5% and 14.2%. "I am not sure on the time of bottling, but I feel they might need a little longer and so I will probably bottle between May and June." He also told me that half the cuvées finished their malolactic just one month prior to my visit in mid November and that two cuvées were struggled to finish their fermentation and just required aeration to get over the finish line." It was more difficult [when it happened] in 2015," he explained, "but I learned from that." This was a fine set of wines from the new star in Vosne-Romanée, though one or two crus felt a little too opulent for my liking, putting his more refined wines in sharp relief.

Maxime Cheurlin, nephew of Charles Noëllat, who famously sold his estate to Lalou Bize-Leroy in 1988, has rejuvenated this domaine since joining in 2010 after two decades selling fruit to Jadot and Drouhin. Cheurlin’s wines have won accolades in recent years and put the estate back on the map. His style is quite bold and sensual, not a million miles away from Sébastien Cathiard round the corner. Maxime and his huge dog greeted me at the domaine and thankfully, this time his dog had not littered the courtyard (I have come close to stepping in an accident a couple of times). “I started the picking on September 3 in Meursault and then September 5 or 6 for the reds,” Cheurlin told me. “The yields are around 32hl/ha, which is more than in 2016.” Readers will note two sets of wine: the domaine under Georges Noëllat and Cheurlin’s expanding négociant range under his own name. There was a brief phase where I feared that Cheurlin’s wines were flirting with overripeness, but I feel he has pulled back in the last couple of vintages. His Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts cannot surpass his superb Grands-Echézeaux, though it does a damn fine job. I felt his Les Petits Monts was out of sorts on the day, though this might be due to a later malolactic than the other cuvées. Amongst his négociant wines, I am particularly impressed by his Nuits Saint-Georges Village, one of the best I came across during my tastings.