2012 Domaine Jean Grivot, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru, Ronciere

The 2012 Nuits St. Georges Roncieres is less overt than some of the other wines in the lineup, although there is no shortage of intensity. Sweet red fruit and floral notes begin to emerge, but only with great reluctance. The overall impression is of a wine with plenty of depth that today is a bit overpowered by the wine's raw power. New leather, smoke and tobacco are some of the notes that linger on the close. This is another 2012 Grivot that needs time to offer its best drinking.

Medium red. Aromas of ripe red cherry and menthol are lifted by pungent minerality. More gripping and less obviously sweet than the 2013 version of this wine, showing excellent saline energy and considerable finesse. Finishes vibrant, spicy, classically dry and long, with a touch of sweetness arriving late. Not an aggressive style but Grivot described it as "monastic." Shows excellent potential.

A different form of reduction is present here though the effect is the same in that the nose cannot be properly evaluated. The detailed, pure and energetic medium-bodied flavors possess good intensity before terminating in a saline and ever-so-slightly rustic finish. The tannic spine is well-integrated and this should amply reward mid-term cellaring yet be approachable after only 5 years or so of bottle age.

The 2012 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Roncieres possesses a very expressive bouquet whereby the soil’s gravelly composition is articulated through its tertiary and somehow “spacious” nose. The palate is fresh and vibrant on the entry. It is well balanced with supple tannins, hints of orange rind infusing the black and red berry fruits with a forward, slightly showy finish tinged with iodine. This should be a generous Nuits with plenty of fruite. First stop - week 5 - Domaine Jean Grivot in Vosne-Romanee. After several dispiriting and unremittingly tenebrous days when the sun appeared to have excommunicated from Burgundy for simply being too bright, today there is not a puff of white in the sky and so the drive to Vosne-Romanee is a joy. La famille Grivot were all at the winery, including Etienne’s wife Marielle who I had met chez Simon Bize three weeks earlier (her brother Patrick having passed away recently). For me, this address acts as a barometer for how well the appellation performed since the domaine is virtually a roll call of the villages most esteemed premier crus, not to mention one or two choice grand crus. After the trials and tribulations of a fraught growing season recounted elsewhere, Etienne dusted off the secateurs on 20 September and the harvest continued for 8 days thereafter. He told me that due to the cold spring the malo-lactics fermentation had commenced later than usual and had sulfured his barrels three times during elevage. Despite everything, the barrel samples that were assembled as close to the final blend as possible, were exemplary from start to finish, despite having to swerve around reduction here and there. The “Accad” days have long been forgotten and having tracked most of their wines over the last 15 years, I have discerned a tangible “fine-tuning” in the last five or six years. If you are ever lucky enough to be able to compare and contrast his Vosne premier crus then it is immediately evident that Etienne expresses the typicite of each with greater clarity than say a decade ago. It cannot be denied that this amelioration has gone hand in hand with increased prices and the days when even impoverished old me could forage for affordable village crus and premier crus are gone. On the other hand, Etienne is creating wines that I think he has always dreamed of making and 2012 delivered the goods. Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, Napa CA; tel. (707) 299-2600 and through several merchants in the UK.