Henri Gouges: New and Aged Releases: February 2020

Domaine Henri Gouges is a legendary name in Burgundy and we’re excited to announce both the new release of 2017’s as well as the acquisition of a treasure trove of back-vintage bottles.  We’ll get into the new wines below (the short story is that the wines are great and delicious already) but this assortment of older bottles is almost hard to believe.

We’re looking at perfectly cellared bottles from the 2002-2013 vintages, at prices that are much closer to current releases than you’d expect given the quality of the wines and their age.  We have a broad assortment of these bottles—perfect picks for to get a head start on cellaring (or in a few cases, perfect picks for your cellar now.

Henri Gouges, who founded the venerable estate, was one of the first in Burgundy to estate bottle—at the time the winery was founded most just sold grapes or wine to negociants.  He also was instrumental in creating the AOC system in Burgundy and help to get a vineyard classification worked out.  The estate is based in Nuits, with holdings in most of the major crus and an incredible standard of quality across the board.  The current generation, Christian and Pierre (grandsons of Henri) are making some of the finest wines in the estate’s history.

The new 2017’s are not your father’s Gouges wines.  The domaine is known for powerful, incredibly long lived wines, often with fierce tannins when young.  Yet, when we’ve tasted these wines in the last few vintages, they’re more refined and elegant than ever.  You can tell there’s a strong spine that will allow the wines to age for a long time, but they’re surprisingly delicious now.

We have 47 different wines available from Gouges—arriving soon and in stock now. Even in spreadsheet form, that’d be too long a list for this newsletter, so check out some highlights below or shop all of the wines in our online store.


Some Highlights, Arriving ETA February:

Domaine Henri Gouges Les Saint-Georges, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2017 750ML ($219.95) $199 pre-arrival special
Decanter 95 points “There will be less Les St-Georges in 2018, as 20% of the vineyard has been replanted – if you’re a fan of this wine, now is the time to stock up. It’s appealingly aromatic and not as dense and brooding as this wine can be, but it’s a stylish, spicy, savoury premier cru red with good focus and a backdrop of blood and iron.”
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 93+ points “The 2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges is showing well, wafting from the glass with aromas of smoky berry fruit, licorice, candied peel, nori and rich soil tones, having already almost entirely integrated its framing of new wood. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, ample and nicely layered at the core, with good concentration, fine-grained but firm tannins and a precise, stony finish.”
Neal Martin-Vinous 92-94 points “The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er Cru has a refined, harmonious bouquet of blackberry and bilberry aromas penetrated by a slight flintiness. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and beautifully integrated oak. Seamless in texture, leading to a poised, pure finish. This is easily the best of Gouges’s 2017s. Superb.”

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Domaine Henri Gouges Les Pruliers, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2017 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special
Decanter 93 points “The age of the vines is quite diverse in this 1.8ha block, ranging from 20 to 80 years. It’s a comparatively forward red, especially for a Nuits from the south side of the village. Notes of summer berries and tobacco pouch mingle appealingly on the nose and palate with supporting acidity and scented oak, 20% new.”
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 92 points “The 2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers wafts from the glass with an appealing bouquet of raspberries, red cherries, spiced plums, dried flowers and earthy forest floor. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, with a ripe core of fruit, tangy acids and a firm, stony finish. It’s a suave, nicely integrated rendition of a climat that can sometimes be forbiddingly structural in its youth.”
Burghound 90-93 points– Outstanding “This too is noticeably reduced and aromatically unreadable today. Otherwise there is more volume and mid-palate density to the bigger and mostly muscular flavors that possess a less refined mouthfeel on the powerful, driving and more obviously structured finale. This is really quite good though at least some patience will be required.”
Neal Martin-Vinous 90-92 points “The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru offers intense black cherry, boysenberry and blueberry on the ripe, candied, generous nose, becoming more floral with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red and black fruit laced with blood orange and spices. Quite dense and grippy, this is another Gouges 2017 that will require several years in bottle.”

Domaine Henri Gouges Les Vaucrains, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2017 750ML ($179.95) $149 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 92 points “The 2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains is another unusually suave offering from Gouges, offering up aromas of dark berry fruit, wild plums, baking chocolate and rich soil tones, subtly framed by cedary new wood. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and dense, but notably open-knit and juicy at the core, concluding with a long, sapid finish. Given how forbidding Vaucrains can be, this is an almost disconcertingly charming effort.”
Neal Martin-Vinous 91-93 points “The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains 1er Cru has a lovely, intense bouquet that combines blue and black fruit, crushed violet petals and incense. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, showing a little more cohesion than the Les Pruliers, if not quite the same mineral drive as Domaine Chevillon’s. Still, there is decent length and depth to this Les Vaucrains, though it will need several years in bottle.”
Burghound 91-93 points – Outstanding “Slightly riper aromas of plum liqueur, violet, warm earth and plenty of sauvage character lead to intense and notably dense broad-shouldered flavors that display first-rate power on the serious and youthfully austere finish. This is a big wine in the context of what is typical for the 2017 vintage and should age effortlessly.”

Domaine Henri Gouges Les Chaignots, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2009 750ML ($119.95) $99 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 92 points “The 2009 Nuits St. Georges Les Chaignots (from the northern side of the village) emerges from the glass with crushed flowers, spices and gently perfumed fruit. This is a relatively feminine, delicate style of Nuits, with silky tannins and terrific overall balance. A final burst of red fruit informs the finish. The Chaignots was bottled mid-January 2011. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029.”
Burghound 89-92 points “This is also quite unevolved as the nose is primary to the point of grapiness though the hallmark spiciness of the appellation can still be discerned. The middle weight flavors possess a textured and quite supple mouth feel as the tannins are well-integrated on the lingering finish that displays an attractive sense of underlying tension and fine intensity. This should be lovely in time.”

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Domaine Henri Gouges Clos des Porrets Monopole, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2010 750ML ($179.95) $149 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 91-93 points “The 2010 Nuits St. Georges Clos des Porrets Saint-Georges is the first wine in this lineup that shows the structure of the vintage. Freshly cut flowers, minerals, graphite and black cherries are woven into a textured fabric of notable class. I especially like its energy and drive. A precise, finely-chiseled finish rounds things out nicely. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Henri Gouges Les Pruliers, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2008 750ML ($119.95) $99 pre-arrival special
Neal Martin-Vinous 92 points “The 2008 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 1er Cru has a pretty bouquet with cranberry, pomegranate, bergamot and Vervane tea aromas that gently unfold from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite crisp and certainly conveying more energy and tension than the 2007. It gently fans out towards the finish that is a little ferrous in style, with a dash of cracked pepper on the finish. Excellent. Tasted at the Gouges retrospective at La Cabotte.”
Stephen Tanzer 91 points “(this wine, the Vaucrains and the Saint-Georges were bottled in April of 2010): Good bright medium red. Enticing, very pure aromas of cherry, raspberry and flowers. Quite juicy and precise; not a fleshy wine but intensely fruity, taut and pure. Impressively long, rising finish. Gregory Gouges told me he finds most of the family’s 2008s to be agreeable now and probably best drunk early for their youthful fruit. He’s not convinced that the wines have enough dry extract for extended aging.”
Burghound 90-92 points – Sweet Spot Outstanding “Here is a distinct herbal character to the spicy red berry fruit and earth suffused nose that marries into rich, supple and attractively detailed middle weight flavors that possess good mid-palate concentration and culminate in a complex, harmonious and precise finish. A Pruliers of finesse and refinement.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Henri Gouges Les Chenes Carteaux, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2012 750ML ($99.95) $89 pre-arrival special
Neal Martin-Wine Advocate 93 points “The 2012 Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Chênes Carteaux has a clean and bright bouquet with brambly red berry fruit, plenty of undergrowth, damp tobacco and roof tile scents. This is very expressive with fine delineation and the linearity that it demonstrated from barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tensile tannin, plenty of citric fruit, quite linear at the moment with a sense of energy on the stony, stoic finish. Excellent.”
Antonio Galloni 90-92 points “Blue and purple fruit, smoke, licorice, violets and cloves flesh out in the 2012 Nuits St. Georges Les Chênes Carteaux. This is an especially round, supple Chênes Carteaux with tons of near and medium-term appeal. The round, silky finish is polished and beautifully resonant, all of which suggest the 2012 will drink better earlier than some of the other wines in this range.”
Burghound 89-92 points “Here too there is a touch of spice on the well-layered nose of both red and dark currants that is liberally laced with pungent earth notes. This is bigger and richer than the Chaignots with excellent volume, punch and power, all wrapped in a detailed, saline and impressively persistent finish. While the structure is firm, the tannins are relatively fine-grained and the overall impression is not especially rustic.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!