2018 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Cailles 1er Cru

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."