2015 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1. Cru Clos de Thorey La Vougeraie

There isn't a wall as such - it's "a clos without a clos", according to Pierre Vincent - but this vineyard sits in the heart of the Aux Thorey Premier Cru and expresses its best features. Mineral and chalky, it's one of the most saline wines in the La Vougeraie portfolio. Spicy, pithy and very well balanced. 2019-28

A discreet touch of wood serves as a relatively neutral backdrop for the spice and again markedly floral nose of essence of red berry fruit and plum aromas. There is excellent volume to the full-bodied and lightly mineral-suffused flavors that coat the palate with dry extract while delivering very good length on the mildly austere and warm finish where the wood displayed by the nose resurfaces.

The 2015 Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos de Thorey, which used to belong to the Moillard family, offers an expressive, mineral-driven bouquet with shimmering red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit gathering momentum in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, the oak maybe too conspicuous on the finish at the moment, although that will be subsumed since the percentage was not high. Demonstrating impressive persistence in the mouth, I can see this becoming a seductive and quite sensual Nuits Saint-Georges.

Healthy medium red. Coolish and vibrant on the nose, with cherry and berry flavors complicated by a whiff of vanilla and obvious spicy oak. Silky and suave in the mouth, offering a lovely combination of volume and finesse; the fresher combe character comes through clearly. Red and darker berry flavors are complicated by a touch of savory minerality. Not a thick style but nicely perfumed. Finishes with smooth tannins and noteworthy length.