Nuits-St-Georges Les Plantes au Baron 2008
Côte de Nuits-Villages rouge Les Monts de Boncourt 2008
After spending much of the summer with furrowed brow, Raphaël and Béatrice could smile broadly as the sun shone from the second half of September onwards and crucially, the vent du nord blew throughout the Côte d’Or, drying the grapes and aiding the final ripening.
Your exclusive Nuits-St-Georges Les Plantes au Baron 2008 comes from a small vineyard to the south of the appellation. The soils are stony with a mix of clay and limestone. After careful sorting of the grapes, the wine underwent a classical burgundian fermentation followed by 12 months’ ageing in high quality French oak barrels, of which a third were new. The Dubois style is to make attractive wines that are open and supple early on, but also capable of taking on layers of complexity and depth with age. At present, your Nuits-St-Georges is typically fragrant; a mix of undergrowth, bright berry fruits and exotic spices.
The tannins are firm but ripe and integrated, the flavours are long and the texture is creamy and supple. It has a good life ahead of it and will develop layers of blackcurrant and kirsch fruit as well as sous-bois, truffle and game characteristics. Although delicious now, your 2008 will keep until 2020-2025 if carefully cellared.
Your second exclusive wine, the Côte de Nuits-Villages Les Monts de Boncourt 2008, has a typical northern Burgundy style, with attractive red fruit flavours of cherry and raspberry, underpinned by a good structure. It can be broached now but will also develop beautifully over the next eight to ten years.
A simple roast chicken dish is an ideal foil for these wines when young. With some maturity, then try roast Barbary duck or pheasant with a wild mushroom sauce.