2018 Nuits Saint-Georges Village

Antoine Gouges is taking an increasingly prominent role at the Domaine alongside Grégory Gouges. As usual, we tasted in the front room under the watchful eye of Henri Gouges looking down from an old black and white photograph. “We had a very long flowering that took about three weeks,” Gouges explained. “It was wet and cool, so the maturity was heterogeneous. The summer was very hot and so we had a bit of grillure, but not too much. At the last minute we brought the date forward from 21 September to 14 September. The phenolic maturity varied with some brown seeds and others green, so we asked ourselves if we could put them in the tank. After the vinification we did not find any hard tannins. This is something that we work hard on these days. The alcoholic fermentation went well with no stuck ferments, although there was some in 2020. We used to rack after malolactic but now we allow the wine to mature on the lees if they are showing well, in order to feed the yeasts and conduct a shorter élevage, also to retain freshness and fruit. We ended up with average alcohol levels around 13.5°, the highest around 14.2°. The average yields is 25-30hl/ha but the Les Saint-Georges was just 15hl/ha. At the moment, the wines that are not bottled are in stainless steel and they will be bottled starting from November, though nothing is confirmed yet. But certainly [they will be bottled] by the end of the year since they do not need a long élevage. I think the 2019s are more classical in style compared to the 2018s. They have more energy and I like the aromatics.”

In 2019 the Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges reigns supreme and highlighted some of their other Premier Crus that miss a bit of chutzpah or, in the case of the normally dependable Les Vaucrains, exhibited just a touch of volatility on the nose. That said, the Les Pruliers shone brightly with exquisite pure red fruit. Hopefully the Vaucrains will take a few notes and address its issues by the time of bottling.

This year Antoine Gouges was on hand to show me through Domaine Henri Gouge's 2018s. “We started picking the whites on 3 September and the reds on 8 September and finished in five and a half days. We tried to pick fast with a big team. The alcohol levels are between 13.5% and 14.0% apart from Vaucrains and Les Saint-Georges that are a bit higher, around 14.3%. We did the bottling just before harvest to keep the freshness of the fruit. We no longer rack after malolactic and leave the wines on the lees since 2018. The malic acid was quite low so the malolactic was finished in December. I think we will end up drinking the 2017 before the 2018. I like the balance of the vintage and the maturity of the tannins. They should age very well and they are not heavy to me."