Deeply colored, almost opaque color with earthy black pinot fruit leading to robust, full-bodied and muscular flavors and plenty of density, including a very long finish. While this will require at least a decade to be at its best, there is enough mid-palate density to permit this to age gracefully for a lot longer.
Reviews:
- Wine Advocate: Beautiful. Clean, pure raspberry mousse, with chocolate, spice and a distinctive mineralness, this exotic beauty is racy, even delicate, but with firm and ripe tannins and a terrific, lingering finish of fresh acidity. Has the fruit to hold up until the tannins soften.
- Vinous: The 1998 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er Cru has an impressive bouquet, one that is both fresh and focused with redcurrant, juniper, clove and light cigar box notes. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine and noble tannin. The texture is quite chalky. There is a surfeit of energy and tension towards the finessed finish. Bon vin! Tasted at the Gouges retrospective at La Cabotte.s.
Producer Information
Domaine Henri Gouges is a highly regarded producer in the Burgundy commune of Nuits-Saint-Georges with holdings in a number of its premier cru vineyards. It makes mostly red wine from Pinot Noir, the dominant variety of the region. Though holding no land in grand cru sites, the premier crus of the domaine and the wider Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation are considered to be some of the finest in the Côte de Nuits, the most renowned being Les Saint-Georges.The domaine was founded in 1919 by Henri Gouges and continues to be owned and operated by the family, which dates its history back several generations earlier than the eponymous estate. Gouges was a prominent figure, who made several notable contributions to the region.He was among the first producers to eschew the Burgundy négociant system that was often viewed as corrupt. Instead, in the 1920s, Gouges championed estate bottling, an uncommon practice at the time.
