The 2012 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes has a fragrant, creamy bouquet even though the malos were not yet complete. The palate is finely balanced, Vosne-like in style with good tension. It builds nice in the mouth and feels a little chewy toward the finish. This is very fine. It seems to be an occupational hazard that every so often, there is an enormous hound salivating behind winery gates, eyeballing his prospective lunch. Still, once I had let Gilles Jayer’s dog leap all over me, thankfully in excitement rather than hunger, we descended down to his cellars to taste through the 2012s. Here, the vintage commended not until October 2 and yields were low at 20 hectoliters per hectare. He approaches his wines in a modern style, everything rigorously sorted and de-stemmed, the wines bathed in new oak, which to his credit, seems to be assimilated into the fruit far better than others. These wines are very consistent and if you appreciate fruit-driven, sleek, sumptuous Pinot Noir, then these will fit the ticket. Importer: no known US importer.

The 2010 Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes paints a more complete, multi-dimensional portrait of Nuits than the Hauts Porrets. Black cherries, plums, menthol, spices and licorice are just some of the many notes that take shape in this decidedly masculine, deeply-pitched Burgundy. Layers of fleshy, radiant fruit are given an attractive lift on the beautifully articulated finish. This is a terrific showing from Gilles Jayer. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030. Gilles Jayer’s 2010s are stellar. The harvest stretched into October, late even by the standards of the year. All of the wines were aged in 100% new oak and had not been racked at the time of my tastings. I will report on the 2009s in the April issue. No known American importer.

The 2009 Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes is much more interesting than the Porrets. Expressive floral notes lead to crushed rocks and black cherries in this finessed, vibrant wine. Piercing saline notes give the Damodes great energy and thrust, especially within the context of the year. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. No known American importer.

The 2008 Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes is a beautifully centered, poised wine endowed with great energy in its tightly wound core of fruit. This shows gorgeous energy and vibrancy from start to finish. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028. This is a strong set of wines from Gilles Jayer. In 2009 the harvest took place from the 16th to the 24th of September. After vinification Jayer leaves the wines in oak with no racking until they are assembled prior to bottling. Jayer uses 100% new oak for all his wines. With the occasional exception of some of the entry-level offerings, the wines handle their new oak admirably well. I also had a chance to taste the 2008s. Aside from the Hautes Cotes de Beaune – which was too reduced to evaluate – the 2008s showed very well. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083

Bright, bittersweet cherry and cranberry that could have been borrowed from 2008 inform the Jayer-Gilles 2007 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes, along with more obvious tannic structure than I perceived in its immediate siblings. Invigoratingly saline, leathery, pungently herbal, and piquantly cherry pit notes inform the sustained and energetic finish of a slightly austere wine I expect will be worth following for a dozen or more years, and that – unlike most of its vintage – ought to be given the next few to rest quietly in a cellar. Gilles Jayer did not commence harvesting is 2008 Pinots until October 1, with his Echezeaux. (In 2007, he began August 31.) With the exception of a few top parcels, he notes, triage had to be more severe in 2007 (just as in 2006) than it was in 2008, when he estimates that only 3-5% of what arrived in the press house was rejected. These 2008s evolved very slowly, in many instances retaining gaseous memoirs of their malo-lactic fermentations through the winter of 2009-2010, and not only were none of them bottled until after I last tasted them, but the Cotes de Nuits-Villages was simply not ready to be assessed. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083