TN: NSG Meets Middle East

A visit from a wine friend from the other side of the continent was the occasion for an interesting small tasting.

1995 Domaine A & A Chopin Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Murgers – pale colour, good pinot nose with red fruit and hints of earthiness, and a balanced medium long clean finish.

2004 Chateau Musar – a much darker wine showing some floral and red fruit notes in the excellent nose which was difficult to place. The tannins were nicely resolved and it was supple and smooth on palate. Glad I wasn’t asked to identify it blind!

2022 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots – young wine with excellent spicy nose of red fruit, hints of iodine and (pipe) tobacco, bright acidity and good length. Needs time to develop but very promising.

[Jenise]

Interesting note on the Gouges--from comments others have made, I don't know that I would have risked opening one of those that young!

I would likely have waited a few more years before doing an initial assessment but the person that brought it likes to take an early mental snapshot, I think.

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting note on the Gouges--from comments others have made, I don't know that I would have risked opening one of those that young!

Gouges changed in about 2007 to a somewhat more accessible style. Of course it’s still NSG, so…

[Jenise]

I owned a big handful of the 2000-2002 vintages. I waited 10-12 years before opening the first one and drank my last about a year ago.

[David M. Bueker]

Yeah, Gouges was still pretty stern in that era.

Gouges changed in about 2007 to a somewhat more accessible style. Of course it’s still NSG, so…

We visited the winery last year, and tasted six 1er cru wines [in total] from the 18-22 vintages. Almost all the wines were quite drinkable. The only one that really needed more time was the 18 Les St Georges, which was still lovely. We were told that the original M. Gouges was the one who classified the N-S-G vineyards, and out of modesty gave Les St Georges a 1er cru rating despite feeling that it deserved grand cru status. They recently applied for a change to grand cru.

By the way, we consider this a "must visit" winery.