Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru “Les Damodes” Reviews

Expressive, from the effusive aromas of rose, sandalwood, wild strawberry and cherry to the silky texture and the aftertaste of floral, fruit, spice and mineral influences. Harmonious, alluring and complex, this is hard to resist now, yet all indications suggest this has excellent aging potential. Best from 2027 through 2043. - Bruce Sanderson

This too is elegant, airy and cool with its array of essence of red berries, spice and more obvious floral nuances. There is a bit more volume and concentration to the equally refined and intensely stony medium weight flavors that conclude in a sneaky long, moderately austere and attractively complex finale. Excellent.

Expressive, from the effusive aromas of rose, sandalwood, wild strawberry and cherry to the silky texture and the aftertaste of floral, fruit, spice and mineral influences. Harmonious, alluring and complex, this is hard to resist now, yet all indications suggest this has excellent aging potential. Best from 2027 through 2043.

A focused, even racy red, whose blackberry, black cherry, earth and spice notes are fused to the linear frame. Shows fine concentration, balance and length, yet needs some time to unwind. Best from 2026 through 2043. - Bruce Sanderson

The 2016 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes contains 80% whole bunch fruit and was one of the last to finish its malo (it had been racked three weeks earlier). The nose is clean and fresh, nicely focused with fine delineation. The palate has a pastille-like purity on the entry, supple tannin, quite powerful but with wonderful finesse and focus toward the finish. This is a clear step up from the Clos de Thorey for me. Superb.

Smoky cherry, spice and herb aromas and flavors mark this detailed, elegant red. Despite the lacy texture, this is stony and tight, with a chalky feel on the finish.

Good medium red. Pure but subdued aromas of currant, black cherry, smoky stone, licorice and violet. Intensely flavored and evolving slowly, combining a restrained sweetness and good salty minerality. Darker in its fruit character than the Clos de Thorey. The wine's strong, spicy, tannic finish calls for more élevage. -- Stephen Tanzer

Nuits Saint Georges Trophy Winner

Characteristic restrained aromatics of Nuits, a great concentration of fruit with a scented, savoury, grippy finish.

The expressive and notably ripe nose is even spicier with its more deeply pitched combination of various dark berry liqueur-like aromas that are laced with earth, floral and game hints. There is more volume and power to the medium weight flavors that also possess a relatively fine mouth feel, all wrapped in a detailed finish that displays focused power and excellent depth and length. Good stuff.

Good medium red. Cool, medicinal black cherry, blueberry and violet on the nose. Concentrated, ripe and sappy, showing excellent texture and intense spice character for the vintage. Finishes juicy and long, with some very ripe chocolate tones and big, tactile tannins that avoid dryness. This will need patience. —Stephen Tanzer

The 2014 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes, which includes 60% whole cluster fruit, has a clean and pure, detailed bouquet that is the "sister" of the 2014 Clos de Thorey.. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, nicely balanced but perhaps needing to develop more substance towards the finish. This is a good Nuits Saint Georges that might well meliorate significantly in bottle.

These vines face east, on the steep hill at the northern edge of Nuits, bordering Vosne-Romanee. They produced a wine of gentle beauty in 2012, with a floral, red-fruited aroma that could pass for a grand cru. Darker notes of black peppercorn infuse the tannins, so the finish is like breathing black spice. This gains intensity as it opens with air, brooding, seductive, yet still refined. 

SILVER

SILVER

Floral, berry and spice aromas and flavors signal this elegant, racy red. Tightens up with bound tannins, but the sweet fruit persists on the lingering aftertaste.  – B.S.

Damodes is at the top of the hill on the border with Vosne-Romanee, where the Boisset family owns 2.27 acres of vines planted in the mid 1980's. They present it with the extravagant oak scent of a grand cru, and the wine has the red fruit intensity to sustain its vinous tension and generous complexity long after the toast and smoke is gone. The finish lasts for minutes, the wine needing five years or more to show its best.
 

Deep, bright red. Vibrant cherry and mocha aromas are lifted by a floral quality. Rich, sweet and deep, with strong dark fruit flavors framed by harmonious acidity and accented by a peppery quality. Broad yet weightless wine with strong underlying mineral character. Most of the pHs of these 2013s are in the range of 3.65 but this one is more like 3.5, according to Vincent. Finishes sappy and long, with terrific lift.

The 2012 Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes is plump, juicy and inviting on the palate, with lovely depth and resonance. This is another wine that comes across as raw and not fully formed. In this case, the malos aren't fully finished yet. Still, there appears

Features beautiful cherry, raspberry and floral aromas and flavors matched to a silky texture. Harmonious and vibrant, with a long, juicy finish. Best from 2016 through 2032. 70 cases imported. –BS

Good bright red. Musky redcurrant, black cherry, violet, rose petal and sandalwood on the perfumed, elegant nose. Juicy, spicy and intense, with lovely clarity and sappiness to the red berry, cherry and smoky mineral flavors. Very silky Damodes with a long, ripely tannic finish.

Outstanding. Here the wood treatment is more obvious though still relatively modest as it allows the ripe, earth and appealingly spicy red currant, plum, violet and rose petal aromas to shine. I very much like the mouth feel of the distinctly mineral-tinged medium-bodied flavors that possess outstanding complexity while concluding in a tension-filled and impressively persistent finish. The balance of structural elements is perfect and this should age effortlessly for up to a decade.

The 2010 Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes has everything the Corvees Paget doesn’t. Sensual layers of fruit caress the palate in this super-refined Nuits. Gentle floral and spice notes develop in the glass, adding depth and volume. Clean veins of underlying minerality frame the exceptional finish. This is a standout. Pierre Vincent used 50% whole clusters here. This parcel was planted 40 years ago with a selection of pinot fin. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030. This is stunning set of wines from Pierre Vincent and Domaine de la Vougeraie. It is impossible to miss the attention to detail at this impeccably run domaine. No expense is spared. It takes 80 people to work the vineyards during harvest and another 20 in the cellar to take it from there. Production in 2010 was of course down significantly as it was everywhere else. Yields came in at 24 hectoliters per hectare for the Pinot and 29 for the Chardonnay. Vincent used between 30-80% whole bunches, depending on the wine. Readers who want to learn more might want to check out my video interview with Pierre Vincent on www.erobertparker.com. I will report on the domaine’s 2009s in the April issue.

Discreet wood highlights very ripe and impressively dense aromas of red berry liqueur, plum, violet and pungent warm earth. The density of the nose telegraphs the excellent concentration to be found on the very rich, powerful and serious medium-bodied flavors that possess very fine depth on the robust, energetic and moderately rustic finish. This is a classic Nuits that should age effortlessly.

30% whole clusters. Hints of spice, warm earth and dried flowers characterize the very fresh red pinot fruit liqueur aromas that marry into the solidly rich and seductively textured flavors that culminate in a firm and only slightly rustic finish that delivers outstanding length. This robust effort possesses that wonderful quality of ample amounts of underlying tension. Worth a look.

The 2009 Nuits St. Georges Les Damodes emerges from the glass with big, muscular fruit. This is a decidedly extroverted, dark wine that fills out its broad shouldered frame well. The Damodes is made in a style that pushes ripeness to the extreme. Here the estate used 40% whole clusters. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. Biodynamic farming and non-interventionalist winemaking are at the heart of the approach at Domaine de la Vougeraie. The 2009s saw roughly a 25 days of maceration (including a week of cold soak) with one punch down a day. Once in barrel racking was kept to a bare minimum. A number of wines were bottled in late 2010 and early 2011. I tasted these wines with winemaker Pierre Vincent in March 2011.

Tasted out of the barrel at the Domaine. This has great clarity on the nose with wild strawberry, redcurrant and a touch of cranberry leaf. Floral and feminine, this is a delightful bouquet. The palate is lively and animated on the entry, supple, light tannins with a graceful, very pure, quite succulent finish of strawberry and fresh cherries. Lvoely. Tasted November 2010.

30% whole clusters. Hints of spice, warm earth and dried flowers characterize the very fresh red pinot noir fruit aromas that marry into the solidly rich and seductively textured flavors that culminate in a firm and only slightly rustic finish that delivers outstanding length. This also possesses that wonderful quality of ample amounts of underlying tension. Worth serious consideration. 2019+