Classification | Cru Classe |
Type | Red |
Brand | Lucien Le Moine |
Vintage | 2007 |
Country | France |
Region | Burgundy, Cotes de Nuits |
Grape | Pinot Noir |
Volume | 0,75 |
Condition | Perfect |
Label | Perfect |
Drinkable | -2022 |
Stock | 0 |
The Le Moine 2007 Nuits St.-Georges Les Cailles (representing a single barrel) smells of cherry, red licorice, and crushed stone. Abundant but fine-grained tannins inform its substantial palate, and deep low tones of carnal, mineral, and forest floor nature well up on a resonant finish. Here is one case of 2007 that appears to positively demand a few years in bottle, although I would not – pending later re-assessment – plan on holding it for more than 6-8 years. Oddly (though Saouma says it also happened with several of his 2005s), this interrupted its primary fermentation to undergo malo-lactic conversion, and only finished converting its sugar to alcohol and CO2 in mid-summer.
?Moderate reduction can't hide what is obviously ripe fruit and a hint of underlying wood spice leads to rich, stylish and classy flavors that are supported by finer but firmer tannins and notably better length. While Les Cailles is hardly under appreciated, it is every bit as interesting as Vaucrains and Les St. Georges in my view if perhaps not quite as long-lived.