Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Porrets 1er Cru 2019

Domaine Henri Gouges is arguably the most famous Domaine in Nuits St. Georges. The Gouges family has been vineyard proprietors in Nuits for generations and proprietors of the current Domaine since 1919. Henri Gouges, along with the Marquis d' Angerville from Volnay, was at the forefront of the war against fraud in Burgundy in the 1920s, and in the 1930s he was heavily involved with delineating the crus in Burgundy for the Institute National d'Appellation d'Origine, and he was a member of that regulatory body at its outset.

Currently run by cousins Pierre and Christian Gouges, grandsons of the original Henri, with the next generation now joining in. No prisoners are taken here – these are wines designed to age for the long term and if they happen to show awkwardly in their youth, tant pis. Two historical aspects of note: the original Henri Gouges was mayor of Nuits-St-Georges when the various appellation classifications were being decided. He advocated that no vineyards be proposed for grand cru, even though – or perhaps because – he was a significant owner of the candidate most likely to succeed, Les St-Georges. It was also in his time that some of his Pinot vines mutated from red to white grapes and became the Pinot Gouges with which the domaine’s white Perrières are planted. Other vignerons have been supplied with cuttings too.

Monopole of a superficial area of 3,6 hectares, this parcel is located right under Les Perrières, a former pit of Nuits Saint Georges that was previously exploited by the monks of Citeaux. Set on the pink limestone and very rocky Premeaux, the Clos des Porrets is made of limestone screes and of soil high in clay on lower slopes. Long-keeping wines that come from it express a lovely finesse after a few years of bottles. The Porrets are specially mentioned by Dr Lavalle in 1855, author of a well-known book on the wines of Burgundy, which he considers as one of the best crus of the commune.