(Please see here for my overview on 2018 in the Côte d’Or.)
Harvesting began on 6 September in Chambolle-Musigny and on the 12th in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits said Michel Digioia.
Harvesting began on 6 September in Chambolle-Musigny and on the 12th in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits said Michel Digioia.
Quantities here are a little below those of 2017. Alcohols go from 13.2º to 14º, with 14.6º being an outlier highest. It was not easy to get all the alcoholic fermentations to finish. As usual here, all grapes were destemmed. Malo-lactic fermentations were very long; the first began in winter and they finished in June and July.
2018 Bourgogne Chardonnay
This is a medium-weight wine that is a bit stretched on the mid-palate. Half the vines here date to 2012, so the young vines in the heat of 2018 may explain the lack of concentration on mid-palate. The wine shows apple fruit and minerality. 85/C
2018 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Dense dark fruits, penetrating, some tannins, but the wine lacks some freshness. The vines are 35-40 years old on average; about 80% are situated in Chambolle-Musigny, the rest in Morey-Saint-Denis and Gilly-les-Vougeot. Half raised in stainless steel, half in barrel. (85-87)
2018 Bourgogne-Hautes Côtes de Nuits Pinot Noir
More freshness here than in the stright Bourgogne. The wine is light and has spicy red and dark fruits. From a single parcel in Concoeur with vines that are about 50-55 years-old. (86-88)
2018 Savigny-les-Beaune Dessus les Vermots
Round with dark fruits and spiciness. 52-55 year-old vines. (86-88)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Charmois
Crisp and rich with nervy dark fruits and good energy. Charmois is in a cold part of Nuits and Michel said that in order to get properly ripe grapes, he often harvests it at the same time as the Hautes Côtes de Nuits. (88-90)
2018 Chambolle-Musigny
Dark and opaque appearance. Chocolate, spicy, rich (14º alcohol), dense, but still with some finesse. (88-91)
2018 Chambolle-Musigny vieilles vignes Les Frémiers
This is normally one of my favorite wines in the cellar, but at 14.6º, I didn’t really know what to make of it. The appearance here, too, is is dark and opaque. The mouth is rich and intense. There is not hotness, but perhaps too much density and not enough development. ?
2018 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Gruenchers
Another dark, opaque-appearing wine. Dense, dark fruit, intense, finesse, but needs more time in barrel. Vines planted in 1986. 13.8º alcohol. (89-91)
2018 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Groseilles
With the Groseilles, we recover more of what I expected here. Although 14º in alcohol and also dark and opaque in appearance, the wine shows finesse and minerality to the dark fruits, penetration, and purity. The mouth is powerful, but that does not obliterate the finesse. 75 year-old vines here. (90-93)