The 2015 Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos des Fôrets Saint Georges includes around 55% whole bunch and is actually a blend of six different cuvées. What is interesting is that the whole bunch contribution is far less tangible in this compared to the Clos de l'Arlot. It is very well defined, quite sensual in style with very pure red berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin: tart red cherry fruit, wild strawberry, saline in the mouth with a sappy finish that keeps drawing you back in. This is an outstanding contribution to the vintage, courtesy of winemaker Géraldine Godot.

(52% vendange entier ; 50% new oak): Saturated dark ruby-red. Pure, deep scents of tangy blackberry and black cherry, plus a whiff of leather. Densely packed and utterly seamless; in a less sweet style than the Clos de l'Arlot owing to its pungent stony minerality. More body and texture here, not to mention class and inner-mouth perfume. The subtle, late-arriving tannins give the wine a firm structural underpinning without impinging on its fruit. From a crop level of just 23 hectoliters per hectare, according to winemaker Geraldine Godot. (Incidentally, 2014 was the last vintage to feature a separate Cuvée Les Petits Plets bottling from the young vines of Clos des Fôrets Saint-Georges, as Domaine de l'Arlot found it too difficult to allocate the limited production of 3,000 bottles.)

Very Nuits-St-Georges in style – powerful, dark, intense on both nose and palate. Plenty of structure here with a firm tannic framework, great acidity and a fine balance between weight and freshness. Low yields of 24hl/ha, largely due to the precocious temperatures in spring and the hottest June since 2003.

Quite a deep crimson still. Intense. Elderberry and redcurrant fruit on the nose. Quite assertive and muscular with sandpaper tannin still in evidence. Lots of potential here but I wouldn’t drink it for a while. (JR)