Maxime Cheurlin Noëllat Nuits Saint Georges 1.er Cru Aux Vignerondes 2021

Aux Vignerondes is a Premier Cru on the northern side of Nuits-Saint-Georges in Burgundy, close to the Vosne-Romanée boundary, which gives it a little more red-fruited perfume than the firmer southern sites. Maxime Cheurlin Noëllat farms the Pinot Noir on limestone and clay soils over gravel, free-draining ground that concentrates the fruit and lends mineral structure. The Cote de Nuits is cool and continental, and the gentle slope with its wide day-to-night temperature range ripens this thin-skinned grape slowly, holding acidity and building savoury complexity. The wine spends eighteen months in French oak barrels, a measure of them new, so the wood adds tannin, spice and a little vanilla through slow oxygen exchange while the long ageing softens the texture. The colour is deep ruby. The nose shows dark cherry and red berries, black pepper, turned earth and a note of leather, with oak vanilla behind. The palate is medium to full bodied with bright acidity, firm but ripe tannins and a long, savoury finish. Serve at 16 to 17C and decant an hour ahead. It suits beef, game and mushrooms.