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.

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.

Mid cherry red. Lively and peppery on the nose. Beautifully open and lifted. Equally expressive on the palate. Lightish but scented to a long, peppery, elegant finish. (JH)