Maison Bertrand Ambroise Nuits-Saint-Georges Vieilles Vignes, Cote de Nuits, France

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The 2011 Nuits St Georges Cuvee Vieilles Vignes has a pleasing, light but well-defined bouquet with attractive scents of dark cherries, bergamot and cedar that gain intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, almost brittle tannins on the entry that neatly encase the pastille-like red fruit. The finish is precise if lacking a little intensity, but overall this is a pleasing Nuits St Georges for early consumption. Drink now-2019. I have regularly tasted the wines from Maison Ambroise since I commenced the raft of Burgundy tastings in London. Bertrand Ambroise took over the running of the ancient Primeaux-Prissey- based negociant in 1987, and whenever I have met him, he seems to be a conscientious vigneron that cares deeply for his wine. The tenets here are all admirable: organic viticulture, handpicked fruit, rigorous sorting, minimal use of sulphur and so forth. But – and it is a big “but” – I have consistently found the wines to be smothered in superfluous new oak and at a time when many growers are generally reconsidering, and in many cases retreating from, its usage. Tasting through their 2011s seemed to say more about the cooperage than the individuality of the terroirs. Here, 100% new oak is used for both the premier and grand cru wines and it rendered them uniform and even a little passe. There is clearly high quality fruit here and there is also a keen focus upon creating the best wines possible. However, I have always felt that if Ambroise could dial down that new oak (not eradicate it completely) to a level commensurate with the fruit concentration in each cuvee, they would reveal far more personality. Still, there are some good wines to be found such as the Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains and a respectable Corton-Rognets. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083

Ambroise utilized 100% new barrels (he favors demi-muids) on his 2008 Nuits St.-Georges Vieilles Vignes, after having dropped to 70% in the two previous vintages, and the notes of machine oil, resin, coffee and toasted pecan found in the corresponding “regular” Nuits-St.-Georges are here commensurably enhanced. Licorice, cassis, vanilla, and smoked meat inform a palpably dense, abundantly if finely-tannic palate that thankfully preserves considerable fresh fruit brightness. Still, the finishing effect is still relatively adamant and dour. I last tasted this from tank prior to its spring bottling, and hopefully it will unclench thereafter. It ought to hold-up for at least the better part of a decade. Bertrand Ambroise picked late and captured impressively ripe material in 2008, though the strident side of the vintage is sometimes still in evidence in the resultant wines, and not always comfortably married with the ambitious extraction and high quotient of new wood that characterize his regimen. (For further details concerning Ambroise’s methods, consult my report in issue 171.) I did not, regrettably, have chance to taste any of Ambroise’s 2007s, which he characterizes, predictably, as having been much more open early-on than his 2008s and as for the most part being ideal to drink young. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083

Ambroise utilized 100% new barrels (he favors demi-muids) on his 2008 Nuits St.-Georges Vieilles Vignes, after having dropped to 70% in the two previous vintages, and the notes of machine oil, resin, coffee and toasted pecan found in the corresponding “regular” Nuits-St.-Georges are here commensurably enhanced. Licorice, cassis, vanilla, and smoked meat inform a palpably dense, abundantly if finely-tannic palate that thankfully preserves considerable fresh fruit brightness. Still, the finishing effect is still relatively adamant and dour. I last tasted this from tank prior to its spring bottling, and hopefully it will unclench thereafter. It ought to hold-up for at least the better part of a decade. Bertrand Ambroise picked late and captured impressively ripe material in 2008, though the strident side of the vintage is sometimes still in evidence in the resultant wines, and not always comfortably married with the ambitious extraction and high quotient of new wood that characterize his regimen. (For further details concerning Ambroise’s methods, consult my report in issue 171.) I did not, regrettably, have chance to taste any of Ambroise’s 2007s, which he characterizes, predictably, as having been much more open early-on than his 2008s and as for the most part being ideal to drink young.Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083