2017 | Domaine Henri Gouges | Les Saint-Georges (Magnum)

The nose wafts from the glass in a youthfully complex constellation of sweet dark berries, black plums, a touch of cherry, pigeon, a beautiful base of dark soil tones, cigar ash, woodsmoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very refined in profile, with a sappy core of fruit, excellent transparency, fine-grained tannins and a very, very long, impeccably balanced finish.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges is showing well, wafting from the glass with aromas of smoky berry fruit, licorice, candied peel, nori and rich soil tones, having already almost entirely integrated its framing of new wood. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, ample and nicely layered at the core, with good concentration, fine-grained but firm tannins and a precise, stony finish. Many of Gouges' 2017s had been bottled when I visited in mid-December, so these notes report on bottled wines; sadly, those that were still in tank awaiting bottling were not in any state to be reviewed, so those will have to wait for another occasion. The harvest began on September 7 at this address, and Grégory Gouges reported rapid malolactic fermentations. His decision to bottle earlier than usual was occasioned, as at other domaines, by the desire to capture the wines' fruit tones in all their exuberance. This is an almost disconcertingly suave, elegant vintage chez Gouges, and while the range may shut down in bottle, that was hard to envisage during my December tasting.

• Vinous: The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er Cru has a refined, harmonious bouquet of blackberry and bilberry aromas penetrated by a slight flintiness. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and beautifully integrated oak. Seamless in texture, leading to a poised, pure finish. This is easily the best of Gouges’s 2017s. Superb.

Producer Information

Domaine Henri Gouges is a highly regarded producer in the Burgundy commune of Nuits-Saint-Georges with holdings in a number of its premier cru vineyards. It makes mostly red wine from Pinot Noir, the dominant variety of the region. Though holding no land in grand cru sites, the premier crus of the domaine and the wider Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation are considered to be some of the finest in the Côte de Nuits, the most renowned being Les Saint-Georges. The domaine was founded in 1919 by Henri Gouges and continues to be owned and operated by the family, which dates its history back several generations earlier than the eponymous estate. Gouges was a prominent figure, who made several notable contributions to the region. He was among the first producers to eschew the Burgundy négociant system that was often viewed as corrupt. Instead, in the 1920s, Gouges championed estate bottling, an uncommon practice at the time. In the 1930s, during the earliest designation of Burgundy appellations, Gouges successfully campaigned against naming any Nuits-Saint-Georges vineyards as grand crus when he was both mayor of the village and an appointed member of the INAO (France's national appellations body). The modern vineyard holdings of Domaine Henri Gouges cover 14.5 hectares (36 acres) including parcels in seven premier cru-designated sites. Almost all the wines made are varietally Pinot Noir, however a limited amount of white wines is also produced. A Pinot Blanc is made under the broad Bourgogne Blanc appellation, while the premier cru Clos des Porrets-Saint-Georges is one of the rare sites where both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are allowed to be grown. It is actually a small, enclave monopole within the larger Les Porrets-Saint-George Premier Cru vineyard. The other white is from the Les Perrières vineyard, where Gouges makes a white wine from mutated Pinot Noir. This "white" Pinot Noir can be given a range of titles, from Pinot Blanc, Pinot Musigny to Pinot Gouges. Pinot Gouges – another of Henri Gouges' lasting legacies – is a cloned type of this mutation discovered and propagated by Gouges himself.

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