Game and ripe but in no way superficially-sweet cherry on the nose and palate of Gouges’s 2007 Nuits-St.-Georges Les St.-Georges contribute to a broad, palate-saturating and ultimately multi-layered performance, with distilled, fresh, and lightly cooked variations on cherry; black pepper and fresh ginger pungency; and soy-like, saliva-inducing savor. The tannins here are impressively refined and there is an unusual projection of energy for the vintage as well as welcome sheer refreshment in the wine’s long finish. I would plan to give this exemplar of Nuits-St.-George’s “grand cru” 2-3 years in bottle and anticipate its’ being worth following for a decade. Gregory Gouges admits that he and his family, in 2008, picked a tough year for completing their conversion to organic viticulture, but he notes that the winds of late September rather radically desiccated most botrytized or otherwise imperfect berries and that this played directly into the forte of vibratory sorting tables on which such berries were simply shaken-away. Yields here were only in the 30-35 hectoliter per hectare range. Harvest began already September 30 and fruit came in between 12-12.5% potential alcohol. Chaptalization was minimal, and then only on a few lots in an effort to prolong fermentation. Malos were late and long, but nevertheless finished by summer’s end; and bottling was early by estate norms, with one exception completed between December and February. New facilities enable the Gouges to achieve better temperature-control during fermentations and to avoid pumping.Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802

The 2007 Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges from Henri Gouges has a ripe, loose-knit, rather smudged bouquet that is not unpleasant with light mulberry and leather scents. The palate is medium-bodied with a lightly spiced entry, a little conservative if balanced, but missing real tension and complexity towards the finish. It's just lost some of the pizzazz it had a couple of years ago and as I suggested, it should be consumed sooner rather than later. Tasted November 2016.

A wine that is ripe and relatively soft. It does offer some dense tannins, but these are surrounded by rich black plum and ripe berry fruits. The structure comes from wood aging and fruit as much as from tannins. The final flavors are delicious, smoky and toasty.——R.V.(12/31/2010)—— 93