Nuits St Georges Aux Cras, Domaine Georges Noellat 2014

Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Domaine Georges Noëllat's 2014 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Aux Cras is not dissimilar to Comte Liger-Belair's 2014 Aux Cars in style, although the fruit profile leans a little more toward red than black. It borrows the same delineation and focus, the oak seamlessly integrated. The palate is beautifully balanced, quite rich and extroverted but not over the top. There are layers of black cherry, blueberry and wild strawberry fruit, but it is the satin-like texture that seduces from a hundred paces. As the wine opened in the glass, it began to lose a bit of complexity and I began wondering if it might begin tasting a little monotonous in greater quantity. Hence, I just lopped off a point. Tasted September 2017. Drink Date 2019 - 2030

The 2014 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Aux Cras is aged in the same amount of new oak as the Boudots, though here, we have more red berry fruit bursting through with an interwoven sous-bois character. The palate is very expressive with plenty of mineral notes infusing the red and black fruit, a graphene note evident towards its structured and (for Maxime's 2014s) quite linear finish.