Gerard Mugneret Nuits-St-Georges La Richemone 2018
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Morris
Jasper
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Jasper Morris
Rich dark purple. Extremely heady, one of the ripest examples, beyond my comfort level though not actually spoiled. Lots of white pepper behind, so stems too. The whole comes together quite well in the end. A dark brambly fruit. A salty note, then rather dry. Curious and complex. I sit on the fence – there’s a chance that this will develop rather beautifully.
Today Gerard works 8.5 hectares (20.4 acres), all of which are red grape (Pinot Noir) territory. A portion of the vineyards are worked on sharecrop contracts, so the actual production brought back to the winery is equivalent to approximately 6 hectares of vines. His wife, Francoise, who has been working the vineyards with Gerard since their marriage in 1973, also helps with all levels of administrative work of the estate.
Gerard takes his profession very seriously "a winemaker must have much humility, as is true in every day life! Once money and success arrive, too many people quickly forget the warmth of human contact, friendly ties and the help that can exist between winemaker colleagues." His philosophy towards the domaine is to vinify and bottle his entire harvest every year. This is why he is so attentive in the vineyards, working with just one employee that he himself trained. Between them exists trust and mutual respect, which is very important to Gerard. For Gerard, the vines are living beings and he treats them as such, actually speaking to them as he works. He has the impression that the vineyards respond to him in their own way, with the crop that they offer him at the end of each season.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Inhabiting the bottom end of the northern half of the Côte d’Or, Nuits-St-Georges is a busy, market-driven town and home to many of Burgundy’s negociants. It is also the largest town in the Côte d’Or after Beaune and contributes "nuits" to the name of Côte de Nuits (i.e., the northern half of the Côte d’Or).
The appellation itself is divided into two parts, where in the north it directly borders Vosne-Romanée, the southerly end is the commune of Prémeaux. There are no Grands Crus in this village, though it does have a large number of Premiers Crus.
The best Nuits-St-Georges Pinot Noir are layered with cherry, plum, underbrush and sandalwood. The fruit is sweet, the wine energetic, and the finish long and lush.