1998 Cote de Nuits (mostly Nuits St. Georges)

• 1998 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Chênes Carteaux

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  Medium center with tawny rim. Underripe, green aromatics with licorice. Light, tart acidity, short on fruit, tannic and overall puckery. Develops a bit more body, but the lean, green note repeats on the unpleasant finish. Poor.

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• 1998 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos des Porrets St. Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  A bit deeper than the Chaines Carteaux but also a more mature tint throughout. Not much nose. Promising entry with a little lusher, rounder feel, but then it just takes a major dive with dilute, bland fruit and punishing acidity at the end. Very clipped finish. It is less green and seemingly a bit more ripe than the former wine, but that's about the only positive I could find here.

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• 1998 Domaine Maume Gevrey-Chambertin En Pallud

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Light with a more orange tinge. Black licorice on the nose. In the mouth, very recognizable as a Gevrey for its earth and iron, and it does have a modest sense of sweetness that you feel more than taste. Very lean and earthy; just not enough fruit and a gritty, harsh finish.

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• 1998 Nicolas Potel Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  Lightest color of these 5 wines. Has some pleasant secondary aromatics, but that green element is present too. Medium body but the fruit on the mid-palate is missing in action and the flavors are just neutral. At least the tannins are not as hard nor is the acidity as screechy in this wine. Perhaps the weakest Vaucrains I've ever tried.

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• 1998 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  Medium ruby with a healthy, more youthful appearance. Big nose of earth and black fruit. Finally, a wine with some texture, complexity, and length. Once again, the acidity pokes through somewhat, but the tannin is manageable, and this is the only wine that has enough flesh to not seem biting. I like its deeply imbued earthiness. Never will be a lush wine, but very good nonetheless. It speaks volumes that a Gouges wine was the fattest one in the flight!

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Except for the Gouges Pruliers, an abysmal set of wines. These would make a Burgundy novice scream, run away, and never return to these wines. Who could blame them? As a group, the only positive thing was that they were true to their origins, but there was little else to like. Most of them featured an unappealing mix of underripeness, poorly integrated acidity, and hard tannins such as one gets from including unripe stems or from the taint of hail. No grace or generosity. In a word, avoid.