2014 Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru

The Lécheneaut brothers’ wines typically offer noteworthy transparency to their various terroirs and the 2014s present a prime example (I’ve noted on more than one occasion in the past that a tasting of the Lécheneaut village wines from the five most important villages of the Côte de Nuits would be a perfect exercise for a Burgundy master class) They may be a bit less rich and powerful than the estate’s 2013s, but they are certainly structured for at least medium-term aging Vincent Lécheneaut figures that the wines are probably for drinking before the ‘13s (as well as the ‘12s) but believes that “the aromas will remain fresh for a long time”

The Lécheneaut brothers’ wines typically offer noteworthy transparency to their various terroirs and the 2014s present a prime example. (I’ve noted on more than one occasion in the past that a tasting of the Lécheneaut village wines from the five most important villages of the Côte de Nuits would be a perfect exercise for a Burgundy master class.) They may be a bit less rich and powerful than the estate’s 2013s, but they are certainly structured for at least medium-term aging. Vincent Lécheneaut figures that the wines are probably for drinking before the ‘13s (as well as the ‘12s) but believes that “the aromas will remain fresh for a long time.”

As was the case on my best visits to this estate in past years, the Côte de Nuits village wines made by the Lécheneaut brothers in 2014 are wonderfully transparent expressions of their different origins. Indeed, Philippe Lécheneaut believes that the terroirs are clearly marked in the 2014 vintage; in comparison, he finds the 2013s to be more characterized by blacker fruits and a spicier, often wild quality. The Lécheneauts started harvesting in ’14 on September 16, beginning with natural alcohol between 12% and 12. 5% and chaptalizing lightly to prolong the fermentations. The wines are fruity and fresh, with good energy and aromatic precision, and nicely balanced from the start. Vincent Lécheneaut does not think that they will close up after bottling, which will take place in January and February, a couple months earlier than for the 2013s, in order to protect the sweetness of these wines.

The Lécheneauts, who own ten hectares of vines and produced an average of 43 hectoliters per hectare in 2014, still carry out a cold maceration lasting five or six days and no more than one pigeage per day for five days. In the past few years, they have been vinifying with 10% to 30% whole clusters and have also been doing some post-fermentation maceration, but only with remontage and with the temperature of the wine only at about 30 degrees C. The village wines are aged in an average of 30% new oak, the premier crus in 35% to 50%, and the Clos de la Roche in 100% new barrels. All of the wines were still in barrels in November, unracked.