- 97 points -

“Great, but not much of it,” is how Thibault Liger-Belair describes his third of a normal crop. This provides further evidence of the domaine’s improvements in recent years, away from concentration towards finesse. Floral, spicy and textured with length, poise and subtle (40%) whole bunch integration.

- 96 points -

As close to grand cru as one will find in Nuits-St-Georges. The vines were planted over 75 years ago, yielding a powerful, majestic wine with just a little sauvage edge. There is a compelling savoury note on the nose, along with dense mulberry fruit. On the palate, there is great density and firm tannins, but there is also exuberance and charm, even at such a youthful age. This will continue to improve for decades to come.

- 96 points -

Thibault Liger-Belair has produced one of the tighter, more serious expression of this celebrated Premier Cru in 2018, finding texture, tannin and structure in his 74-year-old plantings. Hail halved the crop here, which may have been a bonus as far as quality as concerned, because this has real poise, balance and intensity with spice and tobacco notes and underlying minerality.

- 95 points -

The 2016 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er Cru has an impressive and quite captivating bouquet with open-knit tertiary red berry fruit, hints of leather and sous-bois, just so involving that you cannot extract your nose from the glass. The palate is beautifully balanced with seamless tannin, superb acidity, the new oak present but seamless integrated with a satin-like finish that you might conflate with a wine from Vosne-Romanée. Outstanding. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

- 95 points -

There are some vintages when Les St Georges is among the most backward Premiers Crus in the appellation, but this isn’t one of them. It’s still a focused, concentrated, well-upholstered wine, but the oak is well integrated, the plum and damson fruit savoury and ripe, the acidity spot on.

- 94 points -

A wine that can be difficult to taste when it’s young, given that Les St Georges is among the most backward Premiers Crus in the appellation. Clay-derived richness and breadth are complemented by prominent new oak, firmish tannins and a layer of plum and damson fruit. 

- 94 points -

- 94 points -

This is rich, sweet and just a little farmyardy but with oodles of perfume, texture and plush, smooth, palate-coating fruit. It's a Les St-Georges to drink and enjoy comparatively young. There's some tannin and acidity here, but it's the sweet berry fruit that predominates.

- 93 points -

(from a huge 2.10 ha parcel). A floral, cool and restrained nose once again only reluctantly offers up notes of plum, red berries and pungent earth that exhibits barely discernible hints of wood spice. There is good muscle to the powerful and almost painfully intense big-bodied flavors that offer excellent richness and drive on the strikingly long, well-balanced and beautifully well-delineated finish. This moderately austere effort should be excellent if you have the patience to wait.

- 93 points -

Here there is no reductive funk to the restrained and cool aromas of red berries, earth, soft floral and a suggestion of the sauvage. There is excellent punch to the delicious and intensely mineral-inflected middle weight plus flavors that culminate in a tautly muscular yet reasonably refined finish that is austere, serious and built to age. Outstanding!

- 93 points -

(from a huge 2.10 ha parcel). This is aromatically cool to the point of being
almost mute though aggressive swirling eventually liberates the reluctant, pure and restrained aromas of dried flowers, earth, red currant and discreet spice nuances. There is outstanding intensity and detail to the almost painfully intense mediumbodied and overtly powerful flavors that enjoy impressive mid-palate concentration before concluding in a driving, firm, austere slightly rustic finish that is very Nuits in character. I very much like the depth of the underlying material and there is already fine finishing complexity. This should be excellent if you have the patience.

- 93 points -

Bright, dark red. Captivating scents of raspberry, blackberry, dried flowers, violet and musky stone. Fat, plush and sweet but laid-back, conveying terrific saline depth and harmonious framing acidity to its dark berry and licorice flavors. Not nearly as open in the mouth as it is on the nose; in fact, this is a baby today. Finishes with serious, broad, fine-grained tannins and lovely lift for the vintage.

(91-94) Points

(from a huge 2.10 ha parcel; 40% whole clusters). Strikingly floral-inflected aromas display lovely purity and freshness on the wild red berry, warm earth-scented nose. There is good richness and excellent intensity to the compact, concentrated and stony medium weight plus flavors that possess a firm core of ripe tannins on the wonderfully long, linear and powerful finish. Like the Clos de Vougeot this is indisputably built-to-age and is definitely going to need at least a decade’s worth of cellaring.

90-93

(destemmed) Good full red. Cool aromas of black fruits, violet, menthol and mint. Spicy, juicy and penetrating, with lovely fresh acidity framing and lifting the cassis, blackberry, mineral and floral flavors. Wonderfully pure, perfumed wine with terrific energy and length. Liger-Belair ranks this with the '05 as his best vintage from these vines.

(91-94)

from a huge 2.10 ha parcel). Reduction renders the nose difficult to evaluate.
There is a gorgeously silky mouth feel to the suave but well-concentrated medium-bodied flavors that also brim with an abundance of dry extract before concluding in an intensely earthy finish. This is very, very tight today but the noteworthy upside development potential is more than evident. Strongly worth considering.

93+ Points

Bright, dark red. Very pure but youthfully subdued aromas of raspberry and flinty minerality. Silky and fine-grained but at the same time taut, displaying terrific inner-mouth energy and floral lift. Wonderfully precise already but this is still an infant. Really echoes and rises on the aftertaste, where the very smooth tannins coat the front teeth. Very firm, even youthfully strict, but not at all dry. A potentially outstanding vintage for this bottling, from a crop level of just 15 hectoliters per hectare.

93+

Bright medium red. Sexy high-pitched perfume of raspberry, rose petal, chocolate and red licorice. Sappy but youthfully imploded on the palate, but already displaying outstanding definition and lift to its berry, spice and mint flavors. This is at another level in terms of its sheer energy. The tannins are firm but fully ripe and the finish perfumes the mouth and stimulates the taste buds.

92-94 Points

The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er Cru includes 40% whole cluster fruit, the most that Thibaut has used thus far. Matured in 60% new oak, it has a refined bouquet of pure black cherries, black currant, briar and crushed granite aromas, almost chalky in style. The palate is medium-bodied with immediate mineralité that alerts the senses. This is not a subtle Les Saint-Georges; it races out of the blocks with vivacious, almost flint-infused dark berry fruit and touches of bergamot and chai tea toward the sustained finish. Excellent.

93+

Bright red. Musky, soil-driven aromas and flavors of raspberry, dried flowers, leather and minerals. At once fine-grained and penetrating, conveying outstanding density without any impression of weight. This wine could hardly be more different than the musclebound Clos Vougeot. Spreads out and builds on the back end, with the full, ripe tannins totally buffered by the wine's sheer extract.

(91-94) POINTS

Firm reduction renders the nose impossible to assess. By contrast there is terrific punch and freshness to the muscular, big and bold flavors that brim with both dry extract and minerality before concluding in a powerful, serious and driving finale. This isn’t a refined wine,indeed it could aptly be described as old school, yet there is plenty of underlying material. Ultimately, if you have the patience to allow this a long snooze in a cool cellar, it should be marvelous.

(92-94) POINTS

Reduction and wood once again dominate but like the Renardes, floral nuances can be discerned. The rich, muscular and highly vibrant middle weight plus flavors exude a subtle minerality while delivering superb depth and persistent on the sappy, firm and ever-so-mildly austere finale.