Nuits St Georges, Les Vaucrains, 1er Cru, 2019

Brooding, but slick and dark-fruited. More sensual and glossy than sometimes is the case when young but this is powerful, make no mistake. Not a wine to rush, even if the soft texture and ripe fruit permits this, for time and aeration reveals more and more from this wine. Dense but with layers of flavour that gradually peel back to reveal fresh bramble, black cherry compote and liquorice spice with a deep-lying earthy undertow. Profound and rich without being weighty. One of the great vineyards of Nuits, the Gouges old vines parcels in Vaucrains always produce very small berries, making for a very powerful, intense wine. The vineyard is influenced by its red stony clay soils and the cooling effect of the forest.