1995 Nuits St Georges Les Roncieres

The Nuits-St.-Georges Les Roncieres offers an earthy, black truffle-laden, sweet nose with touches of mocha and an austere, four-square, powerful and concentrated attack that gradually opens up to reveal spicy chocolate covered cherries in addition to huge amounts of ripe, soft tannins. Built to last, it should be held for 5-6 years, and consumed over the following 8-9 years. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. With the exception of Chevillon's village offering, all his reds have a bright, healthy dark ruby color, a precursor of their intensity of fruit. Wines sold to Domaine Robert Chevillon's US importer (Kermit Lynch) are not subjected to filtration but undergo a fining with egg whites. Wines sold to other markets are subjected to a light filtration. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524.