Nuits-Saint-Georges
1er Cru Aux Chaignots 2019
Nuits-Saint-Georges is one of those magical names that visitors recite like a rosary. Known the whole world over, Nuits-Saint-Georges has the original profile of a genuine wine village, but on the scale of a small town.
Origin
Half way between Dijon and Beaune, and with an eastern exposure, the vines of Nuits-Saint-Georges extend for 6 kilometres and cover 160 hectares of the village appellation. The local variation in soils, exposure and location produce a great diversity of terroir. The area as a whole is bisected by the little Meuzin river and its valley, and by the village itself.
This climat is located at the top of the slope. Chaignot is diminutive of the Burgundian word Châne for the ancient French noun Châgne "oak". oak-trees thrived up there.
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot noir
Soils: mostly limestone, scree from the valley.
Orientation: East
Surface area under vine: 0.1840 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 32 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: 50 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 25 September 2019.
The grapes were handpicked. First sorting in the vineyard, second on the sorting table upon receipt of the harvest.
At the winery: 50% of grapes were destemmed but not crushed (they were left whole) and were gravity-fed into tanks. Maceration with 50% whole bunches lasted a total of 14 days including 3 days of cold maceration (12°C). Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only (no additives such as enzymes or tannins were used). 3 punchings of the cap. Vinification without sulfur.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 15 months with no racking using a proportion of 40% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time for very delicate oaking.
Bottling
Bottling: the wine was not fined but was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity in February 2021.
Number of bottles: 774.
Vintage
A legendary vintages?
According to Grégory Patriat, this second harvest at the Ursulines winery will go down as a legendary vintage just like 1969, 1979, 1999, 2009, and 2019, because the concentration in the wines is very high indeed. Years with drought and low yields are always great vintages in Burgundy. We had some new premier crus come online last year, with three in Chambolle-Musigny, one in Gevrey-Chambertin, and one in Nuits-Saint-Georges; Le Clos des Argillères. Furthermore, we revived our tradition of producing white wines in villages better known for their reds, with a white Fixin.
Ageing potential: 7 years and more.
Tasting notes
Adorned with a beautiful ruby color, this wine reveals on the nose intense aromas of dried flowers, but also small red fruits, associated with some slightly vanilla notes. On the palate, it is fleshy and greedy and reveals a good length.
