2014 - Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey, Sylvain Cathiard

The 2014 Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey has a gorgeous bouquet with blueberry and wild strawberry fruit, hints of cassis intermingling with violet, a little creaminess coming from the new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannin, and a keen thread of acidity that binds the succulent dark plum and blackberry fruit together. There is a sense of controlled opulence here, very silky in the mouth with a very precise finish that does not hang about like the 2009 I tasted a few weeks earlier. The coolness of this vineyard just curtails any ostentation here and renders this an extremely fine Aux Thorey.

Medium red. Musky raspberry, blueberry and licorice on the fresh nose, plus leather and earth nuances. Fine-grained, sappy and dense, with a strong calcaire quality energizing the middle palate but keeping the wine tight today. Finishes long and classically dry, even a bit austere, but with late-arriving tannins and noteworthy finesse. Cathiard's old vines here are on a steep slope featuring shallow soil over rock. This holds out excellent aging potential.

67% new oak. Vines 60+ years old – same age as Sylvain. Very dark crimson. Sumptuously ripe nose. Lots of drama, quite a bit of tension here. Very ambitious. Sufficient fruit concentration for the framework. Sebastien suggests this is elegant but I’d say it’s a bit more muscular than that. Though maybe more elegant than his Murgers. (JR)