Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains 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.

Located out of the Combe des Vallerots and right on top of the renowned parcel of the “Saint Georges”, the estate’s parcel is right in the middle of the hillside, defined on its higher part by the forest borders. The production of grapes is naturally very low: when tasting, these are intense wines, characteristic of their terroir through freshness and minerality. The Vaucrains are nevertheless exceptional long-keeping wines, which require a dozen years to reveal their full potential.