2012 Hautes Cotes de Nuits

The 2012 Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge had just finished its malolactic so there was a little gas to contend with. The nose is intense and pure, against handling the oak with style. The palate is rounded in the mouth with fleshy ripe blackberry and raspberry fruit, fine tannins and good weight toward the finish. Fine. It seems to be an occupational hazard that every so often, there is an enormous hound salivating behind winery gates, eyeballing his prospective lunch. Still, once I had let Gilles Jayer’s dog leap all over me, thankfully in excitement rather than hunger, we descended down to his cellars to taste through the 2012s. Here, the vintage commended not until October 2 and yields were low at 20 hectoliters per hectare. He approaches his wines in a modern style, everything rigorously sorted and de-stemmed, the wines bathed in new oak, which to his credit, seems to be assimilated into the fruit far better than others. These wines are very consistent and if you appreciate fruit-driven, sleek, sumptuous Pinot Noir, then these will fit the ticket. Importer: no known US importer.