Jamessuckling.com | JS 94
Published: Mar 10, 2023

Attractive nose of raspberries, morels, pine cones, dark cherries, plum stones, tea leaves and hints of charcoal. Sleek and mineral, with spicy hints and fine tannins melted into the berry fruit. Drinking beautifully. Drink now or hold.

The Wine Advocate | RP 88-90
Published: Dec 30, 2014
Drink: 2017-2027

The 2013 Nuits St Georges 1er Cru les Cailles comes from a single hectare of vine on deep soil with small stones and tends to mature late. Including 40% whole-bunch fruit, it has an appealing and exuberant bouquet with lifted dark cherries and blueberry aromas – somewhat “playful” perhaps. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins, quite concentrated, but maintaining respectable delineation on the linear finish. Fine.

I met cellarmaster Frédéric Weber at Bouchard Père this year at their winery (on the Beaune péripherique) bustling with tourists. Once we had gotten away from the madding crowds, I tasted through their entire range. “It was a little complicated in the vineyard,” Frédéric explained somewhat euphemistically. “The winter was cold and humid and this retarded the vegetative cycle by around 20 days. There was a lot of coulure in the Côte de Nuits so there was a small harvest. We lost around 30% of the crop from flowering there, but in the Côte de Beaune the flowering was better. However, there was the hailstorm on 23 July and for example, the vineyard of Pommard Pezerolles was completely lost. Fortunately, July was sunnier and it [the growing cycle] managed to catch up. We de-leafed the vines and we found that the berries were small and this aided aeration. We commenced the harvest on 30 September and it finished quite late on 11 October. We undertook a slightly longer maceration this year and we did one pigeage per day and no remontage for a more progressive fermentation. So in total there was an 18 to 22 days cuvaison. There was also greater stem addition this year up to 30% and these were covered in the vat with de-stemmed berries.” I must confess that I found the range of wines from this historic producer a little inconsistent, in particular with regard to the reds that lacked the depth, fruit concentration, the panache of the more impressive 2012s last year. That is to be expected given the growing season. Matters improved once we began broaching the whites and especially around Puligny. Bouchard’s Puligny Combettes is as good as anything I tasted from that premier cru during my travels, likewise their Meursault Perrières: both excellent examples. My advice is to tread carefully in 2013. There are certainly some gems, but also wines that I suspect will be overshadowed by the 2012 and the forthcoming 2014s.

Bouchard-pereetfils.com

Situated in the south of the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges, the "Climat" of Les Cailles is different from its neighbours, producing an elegant, feminine wine. As early as 1892, Danguy and Aubertin classified it as a "tete de cuvee" in their book "Les Grands Vins de Bourgogne". Bouchard Pere & Fils owns 1.08 hectares of this exceptional "terroir" where the ground is oolithic chalk (chalk composed of ooliths i.e. little balls of the size of fish eggs formed by the concretion of chalk on hard stones).

T A S T I N G
TASTING NOTE: Intense notes of black fruit blended with oaky touches and delicately spiced. Full and fleshy on the palate, the structure of this wine is based on elegant tannins. Very good ageing potential.
FOOD/WINE PAIRING: Game, venison, meat dishes in sauce.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: Between 17C to 18C
AGEING POTENTIAL: 7 to 10 years and more

K N O W - H O W
HARVEST: manual, in small cases of 13 kg. Careful manual sorting of each grape.
VINIFICATION: Following total or partial destemming on the vintage, fermentation in small containers, gentle pressing ensure optimal vinification. Depending on the profile of the vintage, vatting lasts 15 to 20 days.
MATURING: is carried out for 12 to 14 months in French oak, with 40 to 50% new oak.
AGEING: The cellars of the Bastions of the ancient Ch?teau de Beaune offer natural ambient conditions that are perfectly adapted to ageing the Premiers Crus.

V I N E Y A R D
GRAPE VARIETY: Pinot Noir
EXPOSITION: East-Southeast
SOIL OF THE APPELATION: Oolite limestone
TOTAL SURFACE OF THE APPELATION IN PRODUCTION:3.81 hectares
DOMAIN SURFACE IN PRODUCTION: 1.08 hectares