2018 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru

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."