Medium red. Rich, ripe, chocolatey aromas of black plum, dark raspberry, minerals and menthol. Ripe, silky and deep but with lovely energy to the flavors of black raspberry, minerals and spices. Finishes long and gripping, with substantial but nicely integrated tannins and subtle saline minerality. Uncompromisingly dry but not hard or austere, this rather tight-grained wine still needs more élevage and should age very well.

The 2015 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru les Vaucrains reveals excellent potential, wafting from the glass with a reticent bouquet of creamy red and black fruit, dark chocolate and squab. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, powerful and deep at the core, its imposing chassis of fine-grained tannin already beginning at clamp down on the finish, its acids positively racy. For all the Gouges' efforts to tame their wines' tannins, this is a classic Vaucrains that will demand a good decade of cellaring: patience, however, will bear dividends.

The 2015 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains 1er Cru has a slightly reduced bouquet of raspberry, crushed strawberry and pressed flower scents that become more accentuated with time. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannin, very good acidity. Poised and full of energy, although it still cuts away a little swiftly on the finish. There is a potentially great wine here, but it is certainly not faultless. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.