Cassis and dark cherry mingle with resin and saliva-inducing, saline, maritime minerality on the nose and palate of Chauvenet’s 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Argillas and the salinity builds into a shrimp-shell like savor that beautifully compliments the richness of fruit and subtle oak spice, resin, and caramel in the wine’s long finish. Chauvenet has managed to achieve an almost creamy texture and an uncanny marriage of richness with vintage-typical brightness and energy. Look for at least a dozen years of delight here. Hubert Chauvenet testified to normal malos (i.e. finishing in spring – the wines’ first spring that is!). He points to the bright red of his successful 2008s as witness to the health of the corresponding fruit, whereas the 2007s had by the same stage already taken on a hint of garnet, and he tends to agree with me that many 2007s – in which, naturally he did not include his own! – were at their most exuberant and expressive while still in cask. Vigilant canopy-management and aggressive fruit-dropping have long been constants here. Chauvenet’s cellar has now been arranged to permit delivery of his fruit to the fermentation vats via conveyor and to eliminate pumping, and the refinement of tannins and clarity of fruit I witnessed in the best of these 2008s – especially considering that their author still favors high levels of new wood – can almost surely be traced to those developments. And speaking of clarity, Chauvenet pointed out that several of his 2008s are on the edge of what he deems acceptable turbidity and unfortunately resisted naturally clarifying to any greater degree. But after due consideration, he decided to bottle, as usual, without filtration, a wise move I would guess, given how well these 2008s have turned out.Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832 9083

Purple plum tinged with plum pit bitterness in Chauvenet’s 2007 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Argillas are reminiscent of the corresponding Charmottes, but here there are alluring notes of curry and brown spices as well as caramel from wood all allied to a positive sense of sap and fresh fruit, indeed an overall sense of vivacity unusual for its vintage. There is a more noticeable tannic bite here than in the Charmottes, one which slightly mars the exuberance of the finish. This will probably benefit from another 2-3 years of cellaring and be best enjoyed in the several years thereafter. Hubert Chauvenet testified to normal malos (i.e. finishing in spring – the wines’ first spring that is!). He points to the bright red of his successful 2008s as witness to the health of the corresponding fruit, whereas the 2007s had by the same stage already taken on a hint of garnet, and he tends to agree with me that many 2007s – in which, naturally he did not include his own! – were at their most exuberant and expressive while still in cask. Vigilant canopy-management and aggressive fruit-dropping have long been constants here. Chauvenet’s cellar has now been arranged to permit delivery of his fruit to the fermentation vats via conveyor and to eliminate pumping, and the refinement of tannins and clarity of fruit I witnessed in the best of these 2008s – especially considering that their author still favors high levels of new wood – can almost surely be traced to those developments. And speaking of clarity, Chauvenet pointed out that several of his 2008s are on the edge of what he deems acceptable turbidity and unfortunately resisted naturally clarifying to any greater degree. But after due consideration, he decided to bottle, as usual, without filtration, a wise move I would guess, given how well these 2008s have turned out.Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832 9083

The Chauvenet-Chopin 2006 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Argillas (from a site high up into a Combe west of the town) smells smoky, resinous, faintly fusil, and citrus zesty, with overtones of kirsch distillate. To these almost Riesling-like notes are added on the palate brown spices and tart, sour cherry. An anchoring sense of meatiness and stony minerality gains prominence as one approaches a bright, lip-smacking finish. This is another lean bottling that shows its acidity, but in an invigorating way that's linked to a fascinatingly complex interplay of flavors. It will be most interesting to see how this evolves in bottle, but I am sure it will be worth following for at least 6-8 years. Hubert Chauvenet professed having been more active than normal in 2006 with punch-downs and pump-overs, in order to compensate for paucity of material, and a certain undertone of bitterness in a few of his lighter-weight 2006s may be explicable on that account.Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832 9083

From a high-altitude site west of the town of Nuits-St.-Georges, Chauvenet’s 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Argillas is scented with kirsch, cherry pit and almond, and leans toward the bitter side of bitter-sweet pit fruit and herb on the palate. Deeply concentrated, with low-toned meatiness and chalky minerality, it offers a terrific finishing concentration of cherry, fruit pit, chocolate, herb, humus and chalk, without any superfluous sweetness. This long-lined, arrow-straight Pinot should mature beautifully over a 8-10 year period.

Aromatically, the just-bottled 1997 Nuits-St.-Georges Aux Argillats was unwilling to express its bouquet. It is however, a wine that provides enormous pleasure on the palate. Oily-textured, opulent, and seductive, this medium-to-full-bodied fruit bomb is crammed with loads of sweet (from ripeness, not sugar) blackberries. This sultry mouthful should be consumed over the next 5-6 years.