Rich deep purple. The fruit is powerful right across the piece but this has taken the heat a little bit more, at least in fruit profile, compared to Aux Murgers. Certainly it is darker and there is a little toastiness at the finish, with the barrel making its presence felt. Nonetheless there is notable power here and this should develop into an impressive wine. Tasted Nov 2020.

Another real success is the 2019 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots, a lovely wine bursting with notes of plums, wild berries, exotic spices, peonies and blood orange. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, it's elegantly fleshy, with lively acids, melting tannins and a penetrating finish. Jean-Nicolas Méo began picking on September 13, observing that "everything was ripe at once this year," and that alcohol levels—for the most part, around 14%—were a little higher than he would have wished for. Yet the wines in the glass are hard to fault: Méo excelled in 2018, and his 2019s are even more structurally refined and vibrant. As I've written before, Méo's wines see quite a long élevage, and they can often be a little structural and introverted in the fall following the vintage, but these 2019s, just like the 2018s at the same stage last year, were remarkably open for inspection. Displaying superb concentration and mid-palate amplitude without any particular perception of heaviness, I found much to admire; and, in summation, this is a very fine portfolio that, when taken as a set, appears to match or surpass what was achieved here in 2018. (WK)

The 2019 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Boudots 1er Cru needed a lot of aeration before it finally graced me with its presence. There is no stem addition in this vintage as there has been in previous years. It has a very well-defined bouquet even though it feels "aloof" at the moment, presenting sous-bois-infused black fruit and traces of iodine. The palate is well balanced with a slightly lactic, licorice-tinged entry. A precocious Les Boudots in the making. There is firm structure, good grip and a countervailing sorbet-like zip on the finish. This has all the components of a very fine Nuits Saint-Georges, but it will require cellaring. (NM)