2007 Nuits St Georges Les Chaignots

Lightly-cooked plum, blond tobacco and hints of game on the nose of Chevillons’ 2007 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Chaignots promise intriguing complexity on the palate, but while that is delivered, with it comes a measure of gum-numbing tannin. Soy-like, saline savor serves for saliva-inducement that is essential under these circumstances, and together with sweet fruit flesh and hints of tart fruit skin largely override the effects of the tannin in a lingering finish. I would want to revisit this within the next 4-5 years to prognosticate as to its further potential, if any. Bertrand Chevillon reported the typically late, long malos of the 2008 vintage, and the Chevillon crus were not bottled until last spring – subsequent to my tastings of them, which took place in part assembled from tank and in part from representative selections of barrels. Interestingly, Chevillons report a normal crop level, stressing that vigilance and diligence in vine treatments made for a healthy crop. Most of the musts weighed-in between 12.5% and 13% potential alcohol and chaptalization was minimal. Bernard Chevillon compares his family’s 2008 with their 2001 –an underestimation, I suspect – and his 2007s with the less interesting, structured, fresh-fruited, or consistent 2000s, an analogy that strikes me as apt. (The Bourgogne and Les St.-Georges, incidentally, had been committed right down to the bottle chez Chevillon by the time I got ‘round to tasting 2007s, hence the absence of notes on those.) Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524