2013 Domaine Henri Gouges, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Les Chenes Carteaux, Premier Cru Red Burgundy, France.
The famous Domaine Henri Gouges was founded in 1920 and started bottling their own wines exclusively in 1933 at their property in Nuits-Saint-Georges and the rest they say is history, making some of the finest wines of the region. From the Gouges winery, now all new and gravity flow, the 2013 Les Chenes Carteaux 1er Cru rouge is remarkably fresh and still very youthful with racy red fruits, vibrant acidity and dusty spices showing on the satiny palate. Les Chenes Carteaux is a tiny cru between the famous Les Vaucrains and Les Saint-Georges set on some absolutely brilliant terroir and this pedigree shows here, in fact I tasted this one blind and I first thought I was tasting a top Pommard! I happily surprised by this lovely Gouges Burgundy as it opened up with air gaining in depth and getting deeper in flavors with dark fruit and floral tones coming through adding beauty to the complex layers. There is a lot to enjoy here and the 2013 is delivering more than most could hope for with a lush quality and highlights graceful and gentle focus and talent in the cellar.
Maybe not as hard in its youth as its more fabled neighbors the Les Chenes Carteaux, which is set on really sandy soils with some clay and limestone underneath allows a more forward personality, but still with a solid form and structure that gives this wine an age worthy feel in the mouth. Gouges, now run by Gregory Gouges and his cousin, Antoine, have tamed these brawny wines in recent vintages and refined the estate’s style, without taking anything away from their character, these are absolutely delicious Burgs, especially this little gem, which is a stylish effort and a great value. The domaine has converted to all organic viticulture as well which has improved energy and finesse in the wines, which is showing clearly here with majestic transparency, it gives vivid layers of black cherry, red raspberry and wild plum fruits, dark rose petal florals, loamy earth, tea spices and a light presence of toast oak. This is really an expressive ruby/garnet hued Pinot Noir that should improve a little with another 3 to 5 years in bottle, where it will fill out texture wise and drink smartly for another decade or more, this is classic stuff in the glass.
($70 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive