2013 Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru

"The better 2013s are a great surprise," said Philippe Lécheneaut in November. "They will age astonishingly well and will be for drinking after the 2014s." The Lécheneaut brothers made an average of 30 hectoliters per hectare in 2013 and bottled their wines last March and April. I found these '13s to be generally a bit wilder and earthier than the 2014s but not in a bad way. Interestingly, Philippe prefers the 2013s ("especially satisfying given the season and the work we had to do") while Vincent gives the nod to the '14s.

Vincent Lécheneaut describes 2013 as a year with a very long growing season that started with an early flowering and finished with an October harvest. Phenolic ripeness was on the lower end, but the anthocyanin levels were quite good, according to Lécheneaut. Overall yields were down because of poor weather during flowering and constant disease pressure that required further sorting at harvest. In 2013, Lécheneaut used only around 20-40% whole clusters, as rot was an issue. Vinification was quite gentle, with very few punch downs. Continuing with the theme of the year, malos were also on the long side. The 2013s saw between 30-50% new oak, while two out of three barrels were new for the Clos de la Roche. The lineup is quite strong across the board. As always, many of the village-level wines are overachievers.