Vertical Tasting of Chevillon and Gouges Nuits St. Georges Les St. Georges 2015-1990

This amazing tasting of 10 vintages from each producer (including 3 vintages side by side) was organized by an extremely generous collector who has followed both of these domains for the past quarter century. All of the bottles came from his cellar. It provided a chance to compare the styles of these 2 iconic Nuits producers during a very relaxed afternoon where we could follow and assess each flight for a good half hour. All of the wines were opened and double decanted 4 hours before the first flight was poured.

• 2004 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Full yellow. Green floral tones. Medium weight, beautifully fresh citrus, powerful acids, and terrific minerality. Long, lemony, saline finish. Still drinking like a charm.

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• 2015 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Dark color, ripe aromas with citrus, rising blueberry, and a touch of brett. In retrospect, the only wine that showed any wood on the nose. Not sweet at all compared to so many 2015's I tasted at La Paulée earlier this month. Lots of stuffing, excellent blueberry and spice, prominent cranberry acidity, and substantial tannins. All of these components have yet to knit together, but it improves just sitting in the glass and has outstanding potential.

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• 2014 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  A full shade lighter than the '15. Cooler, very fragrant nose with some green, and the citric twist I found in many of these wines. Light and lacy with an elegant soil-based feel, and a perfect balance of crisp fruit and earth. Fine tannins. I loved the length and feel. My wine of this young first flight.

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• 2013 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Saturation between the 2014 and 2015. Sweaty and earthy scents, then rising baked blueberry aromas. Rounder entry and bigger than the 2014 which preceded it. Dark cherry, orange peel, lots of clay at its base. Discrete, zippy, soil-driven, and classic with some uplifting green elements. Given shape at the end more by acidity than tannin. I was surprised by how good this was. Excellent potential.

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• 2012 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Even ruby throughout. Black fruit and some smoky brett. Medium to full bodied, backward, dense, and tannic. Chewy and deep black fruit with abundant minerality and soil. After the 3 Chevillons to start, this was noticeably different and more austere. If the brett doesn't overtake it, there is a ton of material here that should develop slowly over a long period of time (decades). Very Gouges.

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• 2011 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Lighter ruby like the 2014. Aggressive peppery nose full of wintergreen and fennel. Light weight, baked earth, not a great deal of fruit. Harsh, dry, all in all, pretty rough going once you get past the exceedingly vegetal nose. Ooh, I'm so sorry I own this. No redeeming qualities, like so many reds from this vintage.

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• 2000 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Light center, tawny outer third. High toned secondary aromas of sous bois and a dollop of green. Light and supple. Lively, bright, red berry fruit which retains a sense of sweetness that is without artifice. Soft, very pretty, totally resolved tannins. An outperforming 2000 that is drinking beautifully today.

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• 1999 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  90% deep ruby with minimal lightening at the rim. Just a perfect Nuits blend of ripe red fruit and earth on the nose complemented by a twist of blood orange. Wow, the balance here is superb! Perfectly round, understated fruit, superb acidity and soil, great enveloping mouth feel and coverage. This just got better and better, and the finish lingered almost a full minute. Outstanding now, room to improve and show more mature notes if given another decade in bottle. An absolute heart throb, and to me, the most complete, seamless wine of the day even if it isn't entirely resolved.

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• 1999 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Ruby. Menthol and black fruit. Big, sappy wine with blackberry and dark cherry upfront, and then, BOOM, fabulous acidity and soil kick in, and it is all closed out by rather grainy tannins that stick to the palate. Like the '99 Chevillon, outstanding wine, but they are built ever so differently. The Chevillon is a lot further along on the aging curve; this still has its best years in front of it and begs for another 15 or 20 years in bottle.

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• 1996 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Light ruby core with clear rim. The first wine of the tasting really marked by barnyardy, brett-filled aromas. Some secondary notes too that aren't completely swamped. Much lighter weight and less packed than the '99, but surprisingly pleasing texture. Unfortunately, whatever natural sweetness of fruit there is rapidly overtaken shrill acidity, soil, and drying tannins. Short finish. I do not think this is going to turn around with more age. Unfortunate confluence of austere winemaking style and lean, high acid vintage.

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• 1990 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Red with fading meniscus. Beautiful maturing aromas of red fruits and forest floor. Positively supple, elegant feel for Gouges with sweet red fruit attack, that inimitable drop of citrus, moderate acidity, and little tannin. The least mineral and earthy of all the Gouges wines today. Lovely, and it may be the most ready to drink, not to mention seductive, wine I've ever had from this producer. The 3 vintages represented in this flight provided quite a roller coaster, with this being one of the overall highlights of the tasting.

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• 2010 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Deep ruby. Citrus, sweaty, and a surprising amount of high toned green scents. Medium weight. Slightly spicy fruit that isn't very expressive right now. Bright acidity, a little soil toward the end, and a cooler, peppery aspect that was akin to the 2011. Not a good stage for this wine. Good material underneath, but harsh and short at this point. Would hesitate to judge it from this showing.

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• 2010 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Light ruby. Immediately more soil than the Chevillon of the same vintage, but it also smells a bit green. Middle weight, slightly sappy, bright, high acidity, rising soil and strong clay base. Subtle sweetness of fruit is buried. Today, I preferred this to the Chevillon for its greater pliancy and clarity, and more manageable bell pepper notes. That said, neither 2010 made me turn cartwheels. Would also love to retaste this one down the road.

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• 2009 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Ruby. Aromatics of red fruit and citrus with spice and blueberry joining later. Somewhat more volume and texture than the 2010 has at this point, no shortage of acidity for the vintage. Opens slowly, and as it does, it is apparent that after the initial flirtation with fruit, this is essentially a classic, lean, earthy Gouges that is nowhere near ready and will also need a lot of time. Despite this, it is not brutal and has an excellent finish. Great potential and not a typical "come hither" 2009.

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• 2006 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Light ruby. Reticent, more somber nose after the more forthcoming 2009. Medium to full bodied, dense and powerful-the chewiest wine of the flight, and in fact, one of the burlier ones in the tasting. Simple blackberry jam flavors, some mint, prominent but not fierce acidity, but whoa, the tannins are positively massive and furry. Not a wine of delicacy shall we say and entirely unready. Lord knows when this one will come around, but unlike the 1996, there is so much to it, that it is easier to see significant upside given patience and a very long snooze in the cellar.

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• 2005 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Deep ruby, very primary appearance. Penetrating, ripe dark cherry, a whiff of green, and some orange. As it sits out, the aromas become more explosive. Medium weight but very sappy and mineral. Impressive sweetening and unfolding of fruit with time, and some late clove. Still massively tannic but roundly so, dry finish. This should be great eventually, but as with so many of the bigger 2005's, "eventually" is probably another 15 years down the road.

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• 2004 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Light ruby. Strident, off putting green aromas made worse by a hint of brett. I almost had to hold my nose to taste it, and to its credit, it had reasonable ripeness and body, better than many 2004's, but the finish is clipped and charmless. And, oh, that awful nose...

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• 2003 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Deep ruby. Curious combination of baked fruit and some mintiness. Sweet, ripe, liqueur-like, some heat, but creditable acidity that I didn't necessarily expect. Drier, tannic finish. Lots going on here in a pretty disjointed package, and no shrinking violet this. Could it possibly get better from here? I have no idea but wouldn't hesitate to drink it now with strong cheeses, for example.

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• 2002 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Ruby core, maturing rim. Stalky black fruit. Light to medium weight. Nice subtle sweetness, excellent length and soil throughout. Very Nuits, quite pretty and delicate for Gouges. I'd guess this will hold and be delightful over the next decade. Excellent.

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• 2002 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Maturing light ruby. Odd combination of green elements, some brett, and orange blossom on the nose. Supple, fluid, beautiful acidity, light underlying soil, and fine tannins. It is a shame that the brett becomes more noticeable as it aerates and shortens the finish. Less affected bottles could prove to be at least excellent, and this was close to that level even so.

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• 2001 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Ruby. Classic laid back aromatics with combination of red fruit, herbs, and secondary perfume. Light but lovely mouth feel and light sappiness. Uplifted red fruit, again fine acidity and earth, some remnant tannins. Much better finish than the 2002 before it. A real beauty in a more finessed style, and a great way to end a fantastic tasting!

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Well, the general impression of the Gouges wines as more heavyweight, structured, and backward than the Chevillons generally held true, but there were some surprises along the way. While the 20 bottles were remarkably sound and I did not mark off any of them as flawed, neither producer entirely avoided brett, with 3 of the Gouges and 1 of the Chevillons having some of this magic sauce.

Highlights for me:

For current drinking
-2002 Gouges
-2001 Chevillon
-2000 Chevillon
-1990 Gouges

For the future
-2014 Chevillon
-2009 Gouges
-2006 Gouges (I think?)
-2005 Chevillon

The 2010 wines were puzzling and hard to assess now. The 2011 and 2004 wines poured just reaffirmed my aversion to red Burgundy from those vintages.

One last rhetorical question-on the basis of the 20 wines we tasted today, should this cru be in line for promotion to Grand Cru status (as has been debated for years)? The answer for me is probably not, based upon the pretty low percentage of truly head turning wines. Then again, the results probably would be similar if one tasted through a set of wines from a lesser Grand Cru such as Echezeaux, for example.

All in all, an absolutely wonderful, enlightening, enjoyable afternoon. Thanks, Mark!!