Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Nuits-Saint-Georges 'Les Murgers' 1er Cru

Description

Charles van Canneyt's 0.7ha block was planted in three tranches - in the 1950s, 1970 and 1990. It has produced a wine that combines the joyous fruit flavours of the best 2017s with more precision and acidity than many wines seem to possess. It's balanced and nuanced, with sweet vanilla spice from 30% new oak. Drinking Window 2022 - 2029. 93 points, (TA) Decanter

Happily, the 2017 Murgers chez Hudelot was completely on form and showing stunning potential at the time of my visit. The inherent elegance of the vintage is very much in evidence here, as the bouquet delivers a beautiful blend of black plums, sweet dark berries, espresso, venison, woodsmoke, dark soil tones and a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, deep and sappy at the core, with excellent soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins and excellent length and grip on the poised and perfectly balanced finish. 93 points, John Gilman

The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Murgers 1er Cru offers lucid red cherry and crushed strawberry aromas on the nose. The oak is neatly integrated, and the terroir shows through nicely. The palate is silky-smooth on the entry with fine tannin, and the quality of this Premier Cru really shows through. There’s just a dab of white pepper toward the structured but expressive finish. Quality winemaking here. 91-93 points, (NM) Vinous

A restrained and beautifully fresh nose offers up notes of red and dark currant, violet, earth and a hint of wood toast. There is good muscle, punch and power to the middle weight flavors that exude a fine bead of minerality on the beautifully persistent if youthfully austere and detailed finish. This is a blend of power and refinement as the supporting tannins are admirably fine-grained. 90-92 points, Allen Meadows, Burghound

The 2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Murgers is also showing well, offering up notions of plums, candied peel, sweet spices, smoked meats and dark chocolate. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and elegant, with fine tannins that belie its Nuits-Saint-Georges identity and a sapid core of fruit. It's an expressive, supple Murgers that will offer a broad drinking window. This is a successful vintage for Charles Van Canneyt at Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat. The wines are supple and charming, gaining in-depth, seriousness and complexity as one ascends the hierarchy of appellations and vine age. After the concentrated and compelling 2015s and 2016s, both vintages built for the cellar despite their decidedly different styles, 2017 represents a high quality but more immediate, structurally open-knit year for the Domaine, and for impatient consumers, that is no bad thing. The domaine's roster of appellations will be familiar to readers by now, with the exception of a promising new Meursault from the lieu-dit Clos des Ecoles—a parcel formerly farmed by the Domaine Coche-Dury. 90-92 points, (WK) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate