The 2016 Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey includes two-thirds whole cluster fruit, matured in 50% new oak. It has a fragrant bouquet with hints of crushed violet suffusing the red berry fruit, more blue fruit emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannin, maybe a little backward and rigid for this vineyard at the moment, but it will mellow with time in bottle. I admire the terroir expression on the finish here. Give this 4 or 5 years if you can, because this has something up its sleeve and will meliorate in bottle.

(from 45- to 50-year-old vines planted on limestone; vinified with two-thirds whole clusters): Slightly hazy red. Deep but youthfully stunted aromas of black raspberry and licorice. Very rich and quite dry; less expressive today than most of the estate's 2016s from the Côte de Beaune but conveys subtle saline minerality. Finishes with chalky, fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of red berries and oak spices. (Domaine de Montille did not produced any Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Saints-Juliens in 2016.)