2008 Nuits St Georges Les St Georges

More sedate and sweetly-fruited than the other wines in its immediate family, the Chevillon 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les St.-Georges displays ripe purple plum and dark cherry; peat and crushed stone; and concentrated red meat juices on an almost plush palate, though one underlain with abundant, fine tannin and laced with enlivening fresh fruit. There is a seamless sense of density and authoritative length here, and while the sheer exuberance and lip-smacking savor found in a couple of the most impressive Chevillon 2008s is missing, I imagine this St.-Georges saying “I’ve got time … see you in 15 or 20 years, if you can keep up!” Bertrand Chevillon reported the typically late, long malos of the 2008 vintage, and the Chevillon crus were not bottled until last spring – subsequent to my tastings of them, which took place in part assembled from tank and in part from representative selections of barrels. Interestingly, Chevillons report a normal crop level, stressing that vigilance and diligence in vine treatments made for a healthy crop. Most of the musts weighed-in between 12.5% and 13% potential alcohol and chaptalization was minimal. Bernard Chevillon compares his family’s 2008 with their 2001 –an underestimation, I suspect – and his 2007s with the less interesting, structured, fresh-fruited, or consistent 2000s, an analogy that strikes me as apt. (The Bourgogne and Les St.-Georges, incidentally, had been committed right down to the bottle chez Chevillon by the time I got ‘round to tasting 2007s, hence the absence of notes on those.) Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

(racked two weeks ago) Deep red-ruby. Subtle but already wonderfully expressive nose combines black cherry, raspberry, minerals, flowers and spicy oak. Silky on entry, then pungently stony in the middle, with a perfumed quality and great sap to the flavors of black raspberry and minerals. This too spreads out spectacularly on the finish, but is much less forthcoming today than the Cailles. Communicates an impression of volume without any undue weight, in the manner of a grand cru.

More sedate and sweetly-fruited than the other wines in its immediate family, the Chevillon 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les St.-Georges displays ripe purple plum and dark cherry; peat and crushed stone; and concentrated red meat juices on an almost plush palate, though one underlain with abundant, fine tannin and laced with enlivening fresh fruit. There is a seamless sense of density and authoritative length here, and while the sheer exuberance and lip-smacking savor found in a couple of the most impressive Chevillon 2008s is missing, I imagine this St.-Georges saying “I’ve got time … see you in 15 or 20 years, if you can keep up!” Jun 2010, www.robertparker.com