1996 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Perrières 1er Cru

Bertrand Chevillon greeted me at his Nuits Saint-Georges winery. “We picked from September 11 to 18,” he tells me down in the barrel cellar, where he showed me the measly quantity of 2024. “We picked before 12:30pm. Old vines helped limit the yields, which are around 40 hl/ha. There was less juice in the berries than expected. All the wines are destemmed, as usual, and matured in 30% new oak.” This is another range of wines that seemed to reflect the inequality of the growing season, with some of the entry level cuvées plus Les Roncières and Bousselottes unable to disguise the warmth of the season, in stark contrast to the likes of Les Cailles or Les Saint-Georges or Vaucrains. 

Domaine Robert Chevillon inadvertently fell through the cracks of my schedule last year, so I returned to a Nuits Saint-Georges producer I have followed and visited for nearly two decades. Denis Chevillon took me down to the barrel cellar, apologizing for the lack of an upturned empty barrel upon which I usually place my laptop. “All my barrels are full after the 2022 and 2023 vintages,” he explained before we used the barrel lift as a makeshift “desk” (perfect, since it could be adjusted to my exact height, unlike a barrel.) Chevillon explained how he suffered localized hail damage in a band that whipped through Les Roncières and Pruliers. Fortunately, damaged berries dried and fell to the ground, so Chevillon did not have to sort them out at harvest, which this year ran from September 1 to 8. As is tradition, everything is fully de-stemmed, and the Premier Crus are all aged in 30% new oak for bottling next spring. Chevillon’s style has always erred toward more fruit-driven, slightly riper Nuits Saint-Georges from his enviable range of cuvées from its most propitious sites. Maybe, on occasion, the sucrosity was a little too much and occluded the terroir expression. These wines are not going to your first port-of-call for transparency or Pinoté, though that does come through in some of his cuvées, not least his outstanding Les Vaucrains, which I often rank above his Les Saint-Georges.

Denis Chevillon was on hand to guide me through the very impressive follow-up to their outstanding 2018s as this domaine consolidates its position as the yardstick for the appellation. (His elusive brother Bertrand is always busy somewhere else in the winery.) “We started the picking on 17 September with the Les Perrière and Roncières and finished on 25 September,” Chevillon told me. “We had only around half the crop because of the lack of juice caused by the frost, poor flowering and the heat during the summer. Everything is de-stemmed and the Premier Cru aged in 30% new oak. The wines will be bottled next March.”

Everything is pretty straightforward at Chevillon and the result is consistently gorgeous, fruit-driven, complex wines that stylistically remind me of Grivot in Vosne-Romanée. As usual, the Les Saint-Georges and Les Vaucrains both excelled and had their noses further ahead than other Premier Crus. The only question mark hung over the Les Roncières that displayed suspect over-ripeness and might have benefitted from picking one or two days earlier. That aside, it is full-steam ahead for Chevillon.

I was straight off the plane, up the autoroute to Nuits Saint-Georges and knocking on the door of currently the appellation's best producer in week two of my Burgundy marathon. As is always the case, Denis Chevillon was out the back, silently rolling barrels across the courtyard, his brother Bertrand escorted me through their 2018s in the cellar. "There was great warmth in the season," he told me. "The fermentation went well for us here but it could be difficult. We began the picking on 5 September. We lost 20% and 40% in Prémeaux because of the hail on the day of the World Cup, a Sunday, but the damaged berries seemed to fall off before the harvest. Specifically it affected: Les Cailles, Vaucrains and Les Saint-Georges. It was the only appellation to be affected. We finished on 15 September with magnificent health of the grapes. Everything is de-stemmed as usual with alcohol levels between 13.5% and 14.0%. All the Premier Crus are matured in 30% new oak and they will all be bottled next Spring."

This Nuits Saint-Georges-based grower is on a roll. Brothers Denis and Bertrand Chevillon, the latter preferring to remain out of the limelight, have turned in a raft of exquisite wines over the last decade. Since the late 1990s, the wines have become increasingly refined, intense and pure, testified to by a 1995 Les Saint-Georges poured blind by Denis Chevillon that I felt was rustic compared to the 2017s just tasted. Part of the reason that Chevillon has become so consistent is the fact that their vineyards populate some of the appellation’s most propitious Premier Crus, eight across some 13 hectares. If you want a litmus test of how Nuits Saint-Georges performed in a given vintage, then Chevillon is the place to come. Denis Chevillon, a tall and broad-shouldered winemaker, describes 2017 as a “miracle vintage.” He commenced picking on September 6 and matured the Premier Crus in 30% new oak; three of his crus were already bottled by my visit in October 2018. The standout is a stunning Les Vaucrains. When we briefly chatted about the credentials for Les Saint-Georges becoming a Grand Cru, I suggested that maybe Les Vaucrains merits promotion just as much. Chevillon did not disagree. There are also impressive wines packed with fruit purity and mineralité from their parcels in Les Roncières, Les Pruliers and of course, Les Saint-Georges. Prices here mostly remain sane compared to others and the wines generally come recommended.

According to Bertrand Chevillon, this estate lost 50% to 80% of its normal volume to frost in 2016, depending on the cru, with yields typically ranging from 10 to 20 hectoliters per hectare. Mildew was not an issue, he said. The harvest took place between September 24 and October 2, and the estate’s trio of top crus (Les Cailles, Les Vaucrains and Les Saint-Georges) came in with potential alcohol levels between 12.5% and 13.2%. Chevillon destemmed all of the fruit, as always, noting that “vinifying with whole clusters would change our style.” The wines stood out in January for their sappy energy and purity. Chevillon describes his ‘16s as “very rich, concentrated, classic vins de garde.”

Yields were down 40% to 50% in 2015 for Domaine Chevillon owing to the lack of rainfall, and more like 60% in 2016, said Bertrand Chevillon. The family began harvesting on September 3 in 2015, bringing in their fruit with potential alcohol levels ranging from 12% to 12.8% and finishing before the rains. Extraction was rather gentle, with Chevillon substituting some arrosage (“watering” the cap with juice from below) for pigeage.”

Bertrand Chevillon was happy that I was tasting these wines a month later than I normally do, as he thought they were just starting to open in barrel. The average production level for the estate in 2014, noted Chevillon, was a healthy 40 hectoliters, "with good grape sugars. The grapes were juicier in 2014 but the 2013s had a bit more phenolic maturity," he added. The malos finished late and the wines had been racked either last spring or in July. Chevillon told me he's not interested in experimenting with whole-cluster vinification "because that would change the style of the house." Chevillon's top crus are routinely bottled with 13. 2% to 13. 5% alcohol, following chaptalization.

The young 2013s were just starting to open in late fall, said Bertrand Chevillon, who racked the wines in July following the end of the malolactic fermentations. Even so, a number of these wines were still youthfully clenched at the time of my visit and in need of more élevage; there's every reason to believe that the '13s will evolve slowly. The Chevillons made a few more barrels overall than in 2012 but it was not a big crop, according to Bertrand. The grapes remained healthy until the end of the harvest and then degraded quickly, he told me. Most of the triage was done in the vines but the estate has had a vibrating sorting table for the past two years.

Like a number of his colleagues on the Cote de Nuits, Bertrand Chevillon noted that the 2012s have been taking on weight in recent months and that the late malos were a positive development for this vintage. Production was off 30% to 50% here, with the old vines hurt the most by the difficult weather during flowering. Chevillon finds the 2012s "longer and more stuffed" than the 2010s, and expected to rack the wines only next March, then let them settle in tank for a month before bottling them. Grape sugars in 2012 (the domain started harvesting on September 20) were generally in the healthy 12% to 12.5% range, with the last two wines at 13%, according to Chevillon. This looks to be a superb vintage here.

Chevillon's 2012s capture the power and richness of the vintage in spades. Yields were down 30-50% mostly because of the poor flowering. According to Bertrand Chevillon the oldest vines were the worst hit, which only adds to the pain in a vintage in which the raw materials are so outstanding and production so low. Chevillon pursued a gentler approach to winemaking in 2012, as he did not want to over-extract. It worked. The 2012s are fabulous. All of the wines had been racked once after the malos and were in barrel when I tasted them in December 2014.

Bertrand Chevillon describes his family's young 2011s as "like a cross of 2000 and 2001," adding that the 2000s are giving great pleasure today--a sentiment I heard from at least a few other winemakers on my November tour.The Chevillons picked in eight days, beginning on September 1, bringing in fruit with sugars between 12% and 12.5% and chaptalizing across the board.The formula remains consistent here:lots of old vines, a pre-fermentation cold soak, aging in one-third new oak, and a first racking during the spring after the harvest, but Chevillon noted that he's doing less and less pigeage and more remontage with each passing vintage.

I have to say, this is a stunning set of wines from Denis and Bertrand Chevillon. The Chevillons told me they were surprised by the quality of the wines given the challenges of the growing season. The 2010s saw 5-10 days of cold soak, followed by 15-21 days of cuvaison. The wines were aged on their lees in French oak barrels, 30% new for the top wines and less for the mid- and entry-level wines. The 2010s will be bottled beginning in March 2012 through July 2012. Unfortunately, the 2009s were in an awkward stage on my last visit, so I had to wait a few more months to taste those wines. It was worth the wait. Chevillon's 2009s are among the wines of the vintage. The 2009s were bottled beginning February (for the entry-level wines) through April for the top selections. I will report on the domaine's 2009s in my April article.

The Chevillon family has another pure, scented collection of Nuits-Saint-Georges premier crus in the works--most of which should offer relatively early appeal but also age very well. The harvest took place between September 23 and 29 with potential alcohols levels in the moderate 12% to 12.5% range and, according to Bertrand Chevillon, none of the finished wines will be above 13% alcohol. The 2010s finished their malolactic fermentations in the spring and were racked in July--a bit later than usual.

My tasting with Denis and Bertrand Chevillon was one of the highlights of my most recent trip to Burgundy. The domaine's 2009s are flat-out beautiful. Readers will not want to miss these gems.

According to Bertrand Chevillon, the high sugar levels of the grapes in 2009 (13.5% to 13.8% here) made it difficult for some of the wines to finish their fermentations: the top three cuvees did not finish fermenting their sugars until January, which gave the wines a more glyceral quality. But this was a obviously a good thing, as they showed stunningly well in November. Chevillon describes the new vintage as "very red-fruity." He thinks the 2009s will shut down in bottle like the 2005s did, but noted that the '09s have mellower, more harmonious tannins. But the 2008s, which he compares to the 2001s, are also for aging.

Bertrand Chevillon compared 2008 to 2001 in its "point of acidity." The Chevillons' wines are never hard, even when they're precise and minerally, but some of their 2008s will clearly require extended aging. Chevillon told me that he and brother Denis have been doing less and less pigeage since the 2003 vintage but that their winemaking hasn't otherwise changed. But the malos in 2008, as at so many other addresses, were later than usual: the last secondary fermentations ended barely two weeks before my visit, and a few of the wines had just been racked.

"A surprise vintage," says Bertrand Chevillon about 2007. "The wines have good acidity and they've been getting better and better in barrel. They're similar to 2000 but deeper and more serious, with blacker fruits. And they may have a bit more density." The fermentations in 2007 lasted up to five weeks as the wines took a long time to digest their sugars, Chevillon noted. He was also happy to have a full crop in 2007.

Bertrand Chevillon compared the estate's young 2006s to its 2002s and 2001s, which suggests that the new crop of wines will be classic and slow to evolve in bottle. The fermentations were longer than usual (up to four weeks), and the racking regime was a bit complicated by irregular malolactic fermentations, which ended between February and June. Chevillon told me that the estate does not do a green harvest in its oldest parcels, but does pull leaves on the north side of the vines, usually at the end of June. Grape sugars in 2006 were generally around 12.2%, and some chaptalization was done. Incidentally, the Chevillons just bought some more vines in Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Cailles and now own all of the Cailles land that they work. Previously they had a fermage arrangement on this parcel. Bertrand also noted that the family doesn't own vines in Les Saint-Georges, and owns only a part of the Vaucrains from which it makes a consistently superb wine. The rest of their fruit in these two splendid premier crus comes through fermage agreements.

"There's not a lot to say; it's all in the glass," said Bertrand Chevillon about the young 2005s. Or, to be precise, in the barrel. Like many of their fellow vignerons the Chevillons have been picking riper fruit and doing less and less extraction in recent years. Potential alcohols in 2005 ranged from 12.5% to as high as 13.3% for the Vaucrains. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; Ideal Wine & Spirits, Medford, MA) Also recommended: Nuits-Saint-Georges (86).

Bertrand Chevillon compared the 2004s to the estate's 2002s for their red fruit quality. "They're tender wines perfect for restaurants," he said. "The new vintage displays the true red fruits of pinot noir. The 2003s, in comparison, are too powerful. "The family did a pass through the vines in August of 2004 to eliminate grapes affected by oidium, and then did a selection in the vineyard at harvest-time, as they do not own a sorting table. Indeed, my early tasting of the 2004s turned up a supple set of wines, with pure aromatics.

Bertrand Chevillon noted that yields at the family domain have been consistently in the 25 to 30 hectoliters-per-hectare range for the past three vintages.Chevillon described 2003 as "a complicated year."Originally the estate planned to start harvesting on September 6, but partly due to the difficulty of scheduling a team of pickers, they ultimately began on August 30, after getting nearly an inch of rain on the evening of the 28th.Chevillon told me the 2003s were powerful and deeply colored but quite atypical prior to the malos, but were a pleasant surprise afterward."Still, I prefer to vinify a vintage like 2002," he said."The 2003s, which are all above 14% alcohol, lack the usual finesse of pinot."

The 2002 crop was harvested in very cool conditions, noted Bertrand Chevillon, but sugar levels were as high as 13+% for some crus.Just a bit of chaptalization was needed.The 2002s, he added, have sound acids roughly equal to those of 2001 but more richness and material.The family did a lot of green harvesting in 2002 and succeeded in bringing the crop level down to the 40 hectoliters-per-hectare range.As usual, the malos finished early here, and the 2002s were racked last spring.(Kermit Lynch, Berkeley CA Ideal Wines, Medford MA and Vin Divino, Chicago IL

Bertrand Chevillon says the estate's yields were closer to 35 hectoliters per hectare than 40 in both 2001 and 2002. Cool harvest-time weather in 2001 made it easy for the Chevillons to carry out their normal week of pre-fermentation cold maceration. The malos finished in the spring of 2002, and the wines were racked between March and May; as always, the year-old wines were relatively easy to taste in November. According to Bertrand, the '01s generally began with 11.5% to 12% alcohol and were chaptalized to 13.5%; in 2002, he added, grape sugars reached 13.2%, the highest in a long time here.

By chance, I tasted at Chevillon this year directly after a visit at Gouges, and the differences between my two favorite Nuits-Saint-Georges domains were thrown into clear relief. The Chevillon wines, especially the 2000s, are more user-friendly in their youth; although these wines have track records for aging well, they do not generally display the early austerity of the Gouges wines. However, it occurred to me that in a vintage like 2000, the Chevillon wines should be bottled earlier than the second July, which is routinely the period for bottling at this domain, especially in light of the fact that the wines completed their malolactic fermentations by the end of February 2001. (Nowadays, relatively few Burgundy domains bottle their red wines more than 12 or 13 months after the secondary fermentations finish.)

Bertrand Chevillon describes 1999 as a structured vintage that will need some time in bottle. "We green-harvested in July, and the vintage provided strong material. We made about 45 hectoliters per hectare, but our old vines provided plenty of concentration." (The Chevillon holdings in Cailles, Vaucrains and Les Saint-Georges feature vines more than 75 years of age.) Colors are deep in '99, despite the fact that the pHs are slightly higher than those of the previous vintage. Grape sugars reached as high as 12.5% in the Cailles and Vaucrains, according to Chevillon.

"Fruity wines but more structured, plus de garde than '97," is how Bertrand Chevillon describes this consistently fine domain's '98s. Yields were in the 40 hectoliters-per-hectare range as neither hail nor frost were problems here. Sugar levels were average to good, with the Chaignots highest at 12.5%. The top three wines here offer especially strong potential.

"A bit fruitier, lighter, more fragile than the '96s," is how Bertrand Chevillon describes the estate '97s. Yields were a good ten hectoliters lower in '97 than in '96 (about 35 h/h, compared to 45). The '97s were racked before the '98 harvest for the second time and were scheduled to be bottled in March, or about three months earlier than the '96s were.