Domaine Robert Chevillon

The business is now run by sons Bertrand and Denis Chevillon in succession to their father Robert, who really put the domaine on the map. His father Maurice had already sold wine in bottle before him, however. Like Domaine Henri Gouges, the Chevillons have a fine series of premier cru vineyards concentrated in the heartland of Nuits-St-Georges. However, the wines are stylistically quite different: this has always been an excellent address for attractive, fruit-forward Nuits-St-Georges. Their best vineyards can age very well too. The vineyard is run according to lutte raisonée. The grapes are 100 per cent destalked, given a cool pre-maceration, with three to five weeks in the fermenting vat in total. The wines then spend 18 months in barrel, including about 30 per cent new oak for all the premiers crus, with a racking after the malolactic fermentation.

Their Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains is a hugely concentrated, powerful Nuits-St- Georges, sufficiently so that chez Chevillon it is shown after Les St-Georges. Their holding is in the lower part of the vineyard, with a less-steep slope, which may explain the additional depth of fruit. The Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers usually takes a long time to come round, having much of the power of Vaucrains but without quite as much class. Expect weight in the mouth and notable persistence of flavour.