2008 Nuits St Georges Les Perrieres

Much more sumptuous on the nose than most 2008s. Fruit battles and wins to dominate the acidity, much richer than most 2008s. (JR)

A fascinating aroma of ripe, fresh cherry with pumpkin greets you from over the rim of Forey’s 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Perrieres. Soy, peat, and resin add interest to a firmly though finely tannic palate, and this finishes with impressively persistent smokiness, pungency, tart berry, and early, musky pumpkin concentration. It should be utterly fascinating to follow as well as versatile at table over the better part of the next decade. Regis Forey’s 2008s enjoyed up to a month of skin contact (including cold soaks). He punched down only sparingly at the onset of fermentation – then heated the vats at the tail end in an effort to fatten the wines a bit. They finished malo in mi-summer and were racked twice – the second time in December and into tank – to help clarify them sufficiently so that he would not feel it necessary to filter. Considering how the fruit looked at harvest, Forey says he was amazed by how well his 2007s turned out. That was his view already by the time I first tasted them, coming off of early malos in late winter 2008; and in bottle they preserve the bright fruit that many 07s exhibited early on but which was in so many instances dulled or muddied meantime. As is now routine here, the village wines (and Bourgogne) were rendered almost entirely in demi-muids of varied provenance (including even a smidgeon of American oak) but always, says Forey, “very slowly-toasted, without touching the flame.” This size permits him to utilize 50% new wood, but with less surface contact per volume. It’s hard to argue with the approach, given Forey’s consistent excellence of village-level results. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Good medium red. Fruity aromas of cherry and redcurrant complicated by menthol, flowers and bitter chocolate. The palate offers enticing perfume but seems cooler and less ripe than that of the Morey premier cru, offering berries, chocolate, herbs and menthol. More linear and less evolved today. With moderate mid-palate density, this is showing its tannins.