2015 Nuits St Georges Les Pruliers

Bright ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of kirsch , black raspberry and chocolate lifted by a minty nuance. Dense but light on its feet, with very fresh dark berry and licorice flavors complemented by a note of bitter chocolate. Ripe acidity gives this wine lovely balance and fine-grained tannins spread out to saturate the palate on the long aftertaste. An excellent showing.

The 2015 Nuits Saint George's 1er Cru les Pruliers was very rich on the nose with fig and date aromas infusing the dark cherry fruit, showing less terroir expression compared to the superb Les Perrières this year. The palate is sweet and candied with kirsch and orange rind, saturated tannins here, quite spicy and very dense towards the finish. It should appeal to those who prefer a very concentrated Nuits Saint Georges, though I prefer some of Chevillon's other premier crus this year. I just wonder if this was picked a bit too late or whether its unconstrained exuberance will be tempered by the time it is in bottle. We shall find out soon enough.

(from a .70 ha parcel of 50+ year old vines). Here the expressive nose is also relatively deeply pitched with its interplay of spice and earth nuances that add breadth to the plum, black cherry and soft game and humus hints. There is outstanding volume to the sleek medium-bodied flavors that possess a supple mid-palate thanks to the abundant amount of dry extract though the finish immediately tightens up on the beautifully well-balanced but notably firm finale. This is textbook Pruliers that is not only built-to-age but is going to need at least 8 to 10 years of it. Dec 2016, www.burghound.com