2012 Nuits St Georges Les Vaucrains

The 2012 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains has a precise bouquet with superb tension - a bouquet that is already shimmering with anticipation! The palate has a supple effervescent entry, with orange peel and marmalade, and fine weight on the finish. It is always a pleasure to visit the indefatigable Mounir Saouma at his hideaway winery just off the Beaune periphique. He is a winemaker you can jest with, and he is often victim of my sardonic Essex humor (for example, when enthusing about obtaining one of five barrels of a premier cru, I dryly enquired whether the other four were sold off for distillation - I would not say that to Aubert de Villaine.) And I appreciate Mounir's wines. They used to taste a little too fat and almost over-powering in their youth, but I think he is fine-tuning his reductive winemaking style, achieving more freshness and vitality. I tasted his 2012 reds since the whites were still undergoing malolactic. Among the tidal wave of opinions, one that he emphasized was that to capture the quality of the vintage under cork, the wines should be bottled late, and not in spring when Burgundy will resound to the clinking of glass. Mounir also told me that he paid 50% more from wines in 2012 than in 2011, but that he intends to keep prices within 15% increase. Importers: Vintus LLC, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000, Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639

(Mounir Saouma has eight barrels of this wine, vs. a normal one or two): Good deep red. Deep but reserved aromas of crushed cherry, almond and minerals. Offers great density to its urgent, liqueur-like cherry flavor, conveying an impression of power and energy. The firmly tannic finish displays darker cherry and violet notes and outstanding thrust and length. Another stunning Nuits-Saint-Georges wine in the making.

A brooding and all but inexpressive nose reflects notes of earthy dark berries, sauvage and humus nuances. There is superb richness to the broad-shouldered, concentrated and very serious flavors that brim with dry extract before terminating in a powerful, complex and stunningly persistent finish that displays only moderate austerity. This is a big and very firmly structured wine yet it carries its heft with perfect balance. Note though that plenty of patience will be required. Tasted: Apr 15, 2014. Drink: 2027+