Vintus

Nuits-St-Georges "Les Cailles", Premier Cru

The commune of Nuits-Saint-Georges is the southernmost commune of the Côte de Nuits, and includes, from a viticultural standpoint, the small adjoining commune of Prémeaux-Prissey. There are 431 acres of vineyards which take this appellation at the village level, of which 29 are in Prémeaux. Of the premier cru vineyards, numbering 36, 28 vineyards occupy 248 acres in Nuits-Saint-Georges; the remaining eight, in Prémeaux, cover 104 acres. The Les Cailles is an 18 acre vineyard from which the last several years Lucien Le Moine has produced wines of surprising power that still retain the elegance of Les Cailles. 

“Les Cailles”, Mounir Saouma says, is deeper than other Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Crus, with more body and more tannin.  It is dense, and the heat of the vineyard gives a “charred” character to the wine - it becomes clear that this character is the wine’s (and not from oak) when you come to the finish, which is purely fruit.  It is clear why some consider a Grand Cru level vineyard.

• 2009 Vintage

   There is more talk and interest about 2009 in Burgundy than in any vintage since 2005.  Mounir Saouma has warned us to be careful, however.  He loves this vintage, and in fact believes it is the greatest he has seen in his two decades in Burgundy.   He believes the fruit had everything from the start, and the wines from the beginning were healthy and beautifully balanced.  The major issue was to understand and respect the wines, and avoid working them, since they already had everything they needed in superb balance.  Overly working the wines, he believes, resulted in a loss of freshness and delicacy.

    2009 is the first vintage at Lucien Le Moine that Mounir did not do any lees stirring whatsoever, and as usual he never racked the wines in their nearly two years in barrel.  He didn’t add sulfur until a few months before bottling, and yet his wines are still completely fresh; some whites he describes as even having a tint of green.  The Lucien Le Moine 2009s across the board are beautifully pure and focused, with the exquisite harmony of truly great wines.

   

  •  "The 2009 Nuits St. Georges Les Cailles is another dark, intense wine. Here the fruit is especially deep and muscular. The wine shows tons of concentration and sheer power, but also reveals an edgy quality to the tannins that is a bit atypical here in 2009. If this settles down it may merit a higher score, but today the Cailles comes across as a bit unruly. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029" 89-92 Points Wine Advocate

  •  "Moderate reduction blocks an evaluation of the nose. The detailed, intense and beautifully precise medium-bodied flavors possess good volume and fine length on the mocha-infused finish. Despite a high level of ripeness and extremely firm tannins this is essentially a wine of finesse and elegance." 90-93 Points Burghound

  •  "Deep red-ruby. Very primary aromas of creme de cassis, violet, crushed stone and smoke. Very ripe but sharply delineated, with intense flavors of cassis, minerals and spices. Substantial CO2 gives a hardness to the tannins today, but this long, vibrant, mineral-driven wine should be outstanding." 91-94 Points International Wine Cellar

• 2008 Vintage

  There is a big difference in how most people in Burgundy see 2008 and how Lucien Le Moine sees its 2008s.  In a typically unique perspective, Mounir Saouma believes 2008 is a great vintage in Burgundy, one of the greatest of the decade.  2008 was the third in a series of historically normal vintage conditions.  Over the last hundred years, on average the rainiest month in Burgundy has been June and the driest month has been September; rain in the summer is common, occurring more than half the time.  The light, fine skin of Pinot Noir benefits from the freshness in the summer, needs it, and it helps the fat Chardonnay on its way to maturity as well.  The idea that only the “modern” vintage – hot and dry – can be great is a big issue for Mounir.

  In June 2008, within a given week rain always alternated with hot sunny periods.  The results were small bunches of grapes that were getting mature while keeping acidity, and slowly ripening.  Ultimately, there was a naturally low yield, an excellent sign, with 20% fewer grapes than a normal year, providing sweet fruit and high levels of tannin.  Very importantly, Mounir believes that in recent times Burgundy has lost its simplicity to some extent – when you tasted the grapes in 2008, there was no issue with rot.  Most people looked at their vineyards, were terrified of the rot and pressed very lightly to get clean juice, only did short macerations with not a lot of lees, didn’t stir, and then fined or filtered to bottle clean wines. 

  Lucien Le Moine did the opposite.  They pressed hard, bringing a lot of lees into the wine.  To balance the high acidity and some of the unripe bunch areas due to the cool weather, they topped with fine lees every ten days instead of topping with wine.  They did not stir, and so the lees would take a full week to fall to the bottom of the barrel, slowly imparting complexity and richness.  For about five years, Lucien Le Moine has been the last producer in Burgundy to bottle, and they were again with the 2008 vintage.  Malolactic Fermentation was not as late as usual because of the lees that was added, and finished in April/May instead of June/July.  Lucien Le Moine has never never acidified or de-acidified, so while some people de-acidified 2008, they didn’t touch the wines, and watched them over the summer become sweeter, fatter and more balanced, more attractive.  They started bottling around May 2010, and finished beginning of October 2010, after the harvest of 2010. 

  Looking at surrounding vintages, the 2005 is ageable, full of body, massive, tannic, with high acidity.  2006 has almost late harvest flavor, very deep, beautiful maturity, and nice acidity.   2007 is transparent, the perfect example of terroir in Burgundy, but will not age perhaps as long as 2006.  The 2008s are going to be the year for people who care about Burgundy.  They will be appreciated the next two-three years, for their very fresh fruit and balanced bodies.  Then they will sleep for a few years, but not like 2005s which are so big they will need a long time to awaken.  The 2008s will come back as classic wines of Burgundy, but not in a spicy, sous-bois manner; they will be traditional, but have a little bit of flashy fruit.  A very particular combination. 

  Lastly, the particularity of the Lucien Le Moine 2008s – a lot of wines are cloudy due to the lees; make sure to stand them up before decanting. 
   

  • "You know you are in for a show when the first of a trio of Nuits St.-Georges crus that a producer pours for you is his or her Les St.-Georges – i.e. from the commune’s ostensive grand cru – and when it comes to the 2008 Nuits St.-Georges Les Cailles that Brakir and Saouma poured for me third (and of which they have one barrel) there is no question one is in the presence of great wine. Crushed stone along with red currant and red raspberry inform the nose and a silken-textured yet bright palate, where a deep, meaty, saline, and shrimp shell savor emerges and carries into a finish of vibratory energy and prodigious length. There is a certain austerity to the flavors and understatement to the fruit here, reflecting a vinous personality whose basic direction is I think unlikely to change in bottle, but which may become more generous as it completes its elevage and gain complexity if given a half dozen years of cellaring. It should continue to offer rewards 15-20 years from now." 93-94+ Points Wine Advocate

  • "Good deep red with ruby tones. Penetrating, mineral-driven aromas of raspberry, crushed stone, chalk and menthol. Like an essence of dark fruits and minerals on the palate, but with a deep sweetness giving superb lift to the cassis, blackberry and violet flavors. Finishes with a powerful tannic spine and superb rising persistence. Should make a great example of this vineyard." 91 Points International Wine Cellar

  • "A pungent and highly complex nose of rose petal, red currant, spice, earth and a subtle vegetal component combine to introduce fresh, intense and beautifully detailed middle weight flavors that are delicious, focused and intense and culminate in an extremely long if slightly lean finish. My range assumes that this will flesh out during the course of the élevage." 89-92 Points Burghound

• 2007 Vintage

  As Mounir Saouma says, “2007 saw a fresh summer – when we say fresh summer, we mean well-balanced rain and sunny days.   There were cool but not cold days, days with some rain and sun, but not exaggerated either way.  And you see in the wines there is beautiful acidity, but not as much as 2008, and nice sweetness, but not as much as 2006.” 

   

  This character of mid-way but not extreme in many areas resulted in wines that took a long time to reveal their nature.  “The wines started fruity and the tannins were firm, and slowly we started seeing a kind of melding between sweetness and acidity after the malolactic a year later; we started seeing the real character of the wines after 14 months.  

   

  This development of the vintage is the reason that 2007 was the latest bottling Lucien Le Moine has ever done, and why they were the last producer in all of Burgundy to bottle.  Typically Lucien Le Moine starts bottling in January or February; in 2007 they started in February, but the majority of bottling took place from May to September.  Mounir aged all his 2007 wines on their lees, without sulfur, and never racked.   

   

  Mounir compares 2007 and 2006 a lot; they will both be vintages that are approachable and will last, and their technical numbers are similar, but they are physically and aromatically in completely different worlds.  “2006 is more about sweetness and for some people a heavier character; 2007 is more about freshness.  We will enjoy 2007, but it doesn’t take anything from the aging. 

   

  Some general commentaries on the Crus in 2007:  for people who love freshness and silkiness, with tannins that melt away, the Vosne-Romanées, Volnays, Chambolle-Musignys, and Morey-Saint-Denis show ethereal balance and almost transparent tannins.  For those that think 2007 is a light and easy year, the Gevrey-Chambertins, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommards and Cortons will show them depth and power.  

  • "Moderate reduction can’t hide what is obviously ripe fruit and a hint of underlying wood spice leads to rich, stylish and classy flavors that are supported by finer but firmer tannins and notably better length. While Les Cailles is hardly under appreciated, it is every bit as interesting as Vaucrains and Les St. Georges in my view if perhaps not quite as long-lived." 90-93 Points Burghound

  • "Good deep red. Pungent aromas of minerals, crushed stone and licorice. Then juicy and imploded on the palate, with superb class and lift to the complex flavors of musky raspberry, stone and fresh tobacco. There’s an almost Chambolle-like mineral and earth element here that I sometimes find in Chevillon’s Cailles. Not a fat wine but beautifully detailed." 90-93 Points International Wine Cellar

• 2006 Vintage

  Mounir Saouma’s approach to the 2006 vintage differed from many. His growers picked late, allowing the fine September weather to draw out the maturity of the grapes and compensate for a cool, wet August.  It was a risk, and not a typical vintage for Mounir, who usually harvests earlier than most, giving him the good acid levels he likes.  The reds express the typicity of their terroirs, and will be enjoyable to drink earlier than the 2005’s, but also possess the heft and structure to age nicely. 

  • "Displays high-toned cherry and almond extract on the nose; comes to the palate bright and sleek, with chalk, cardamom, and fruit pit accents adding interest if also to a certain sense of austerity; and finishes with a combination crushed stone and ore-like mineral sensations in dialog with lip-smacking fresh fruit. This exhibits exemplary refinement of tannins by any standards, not to mention those of the vintage, and I would not be surprised to see it perform well for a decade." 92 Points Wine Advocate

  • "Deep red-ruby. A confiture of black fruits on the nose, complemented by smoke and caramel. Lush on entry, then quite firm in the middle, with black fruit and spice flavors currently dominated by a solid tannic spine." 89-92 Points International Wine Cellars