2005 Domaine Robert Chevillon, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru, Les Saints-Georges 1x750ml

Robert Parker 96

The 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les St.-Georges again illustrates roasted richness and a seamless meld of meat, fruit and mineral. Hints of tar and toasted pecan add further aromatic complexity. Dramatically expansive and mouth-coating, with endless variations ” distilled, fresh, sorbet-like ” on black cherry, purple plum, and their pits, this wine weaves tar, iodine, and chalk into its supremely long finish. The incipiently velvety texture and fineness of tannin are remarkable for so young a wine. Few Grand Cru offerings from 2005 can surpass this Les St.-Georges, a wine I would cellar for a decade before even re-assessing. If further proof were needed that the Chevillons are in a class by themselves among the major Nuits-St.-Georges landholders, they certainly delivered it this year. Like so many other vintners, they reported backing off on pigeage this year ” and heaven knows, the resultant wines don’t lack for concentration. Their Bourgogne Passetoutgrain, Bourgogne, and Nuits-St.-Georges Les Perrieres had all just been sulfured and filtered, so Bertrand Chevillon declined to show them. He was as yet noncommittal, however, about when the other wines would be bottled, although this would probably continue through Spring, and be accompanied by the estate’s usual light filtration. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524. [30/04/2007]

Vinous 92-95

Bright ruby-red. Knockout nose combines kirsch, licorice and minerals; this, too, has a liqueur-like aspect but retains freshness and lift. Sweet but tangy in the mouth, with firm minerality and stony character giving the dark fruit and violet flavors terrific lift. Wonderfully sappy, tactile wine, finishing with suave, broad tannins and superb mounting persistence. A transcendent Nuits-Saint-Georges in the making: this has the fine-grained texture, nuance and dimension of a grand cru. One of the most promising wines I’ve tasted from this estate in a long time. [Stephen Tanzer, 03/01/2007]