2012 Nuits St Georges Les Fleurieres

(among the last to finish its malolactic fermentation): Good red-ruby. Distinctly reduced, gamey aromas of dark berries, licorice and coffee. Similarly reduced in the mouth, but showing good intensity and an attractive sugar/acid balance to the flavors of black fruits, leather, violet and licorice. With its firm tannins and impression of solidity, this is very Nuits-Saint-Georges.

The 2012 Nuits Saint Georges Les Fleurieres, from the lieu-dit just south of the village (1.23-hectares of vines between 22 and 46 years old), has a well-defined, floral, elegant bouquet that demonstrates good vivacity, a patina of vanilla oak present but knitted with the fruit. The palate is well balanced with tensile tannins, very fine focus and a clean pure finish with crisp blackcurrant and wild strawberry notes that disguise the latent mineralite. This is an excellent Nuits Saint Georges. My final visit of the day was to Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron, just up the Route Nationale from Domaine de l’Arlot in Premeaux-Prissey. It took me a while to engineer the car into the courtyard since a man-eating hound refused to budge out of the way of the vehicle. It would probably not go down well with winemaker, Alain Meunier, had I run the mutt over. Alain’s father-in-law was Jean-Jacques Confuron, a quietly spoken gentleman who has done much to make this one of the most sought after domaines in Nuits Saint Georges. The domaine includes 8.5-hectares of vines in the Cote de Nuits that have been farmed organically since 1989, the portfolio crowned by a parcel in Romanee-Saint-Vivant, a thin but precious strip to the north of the climat, sandwiched between Alain Hudelot-Noellat and Lalou Bize-Leroy. Though usually most of the fruit is de-stemmed, Alain told me that this year the premier and grand crus include 20% whole clusters. The use of new oak here is quite pronounced relative to others: 30% for the village crus, between 40% and 50% for the premier crus and over 60% for the grand crus, but I did not find it excessive and it was beautifully knitted into the fabric of these 2012s, especially his sumptuous grand crus that should easily age over 20 or 30 years. I look forward to visiting once again - mindful of not running over the dog of course. Importer: J.A.O. Wine Importers, 1507 Hampton Hill Circle, McLean (VA) Tel 1 703 628 9615. Also available in UK at Enotria Winecellars Lts. and Ballantynes of Cowbridge.