1995 Nuits St Georges Les Vaucrains

Along with the Cailles, my favorite Chevillon 1995 is the fabulous Nuits-St.-Georges Les Vaucrains. In spite of my coaxing, this behemoth refused to reveal its aromatic profile, but the mouth was convincing enough. The intensity and depth of fruit, packed with thick, chewy chocolate and cherries embedded in an amazingly structured wine was buttressed by massive (but ripe and round) tannins. Lively, yet restrained, it was delicious to drink from the barrel but my experience with prior vintages suggests that it will shut down after bottling and require at least 6 years of patience. It will then hold for a decade. 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.