Vosne-Romanée & Nuits-St-Georges 2024: Top buys from a lively and fruity bunch

Although not very generous on the initial attack, this is substantial on the palate, with mulberry and pomegranate fruit that develops with time and air to show nuances of spice, earth and flinty mineral notes. Grippy tannins and dense extract balance a lively acidity and complete the picture, drawing the wine to an impressively long finish. The grapes from Méo’s 0.34ha holding were destemmed and gently fermented on native yeast, and the wine is now ageing in barrel (all new).

A seductive wine, with forward notes of ripe cherry fruit, a flash of chalky minerality and a hint of spice. The lovely forward fruit continues on the palate, setting off the silky tannins and fresh acidity, leading to a lingering finish. The grapes are from 0.45ha at the top of the slope in Beaux-Monts Haut, but the yields in 2024 were minuscule (12 hl/ha), and only two barrels were produced.

This is produced from the section of the vineyards that seems to extend into La Tâche (although it is not part of La Tâche). It is indeed a different wine, with fruit aromas that are more black than red – here they are on blackberry, bramble and spice, where the ‘classic’ is more on cherry and pomegranate. The texture is dense and structured but not forbidding. As with the classic bottling, this is a wine that will repay cellaring for nearly as long as you can wait.

This vintage of Romanée-St-Vivant is more forward than the other wines in the DRC cellar, but it is also slightly more reduced, a quality that will fade with time. The texture is both silky and firm, with a tannic grip. As with the other cuvées, there is abundant fresh acidity, but what is striking is that one can really see the difference in the cuvées. Here, there is an edge of sweetness to the fruit on the palate that the others don’t have.

A wine that offers a bit more of everything – there is a more pronounced character to the ripe cherry fruit on the initial attack, more nuance to the flavours on the palate with notes of saline minerality, spice and smoke, and there is good freshness as well. The wine is not lacking tannic grip, and the balance of these structural elements and the complex fruit lend the wine impressive length.

The Vosne Petits Monts from Cyprien Arlaud is from purchased fruit, but he has been tending the vines since 2013. In 2024 he had to stop the weaving of the vine tips (tressage) in this parcel because of the rain, and was forced to destem everything by hand. The result is outstanding for the vintage. It is less forward than recent sunnier vintages, but it does not lack fruit and it has a consummate elegance in the balance between the firm tannins, perfumed fruit and fresh acidity.

With its lovely, expressive fruit aromas of black plum and pomegranate and hints of salty mineral and earth, Méo’s Vosne Brûlées is a standout wine in a trying vintage. There is powerful concentration, good grip, and abundant length on the finish. The grapes are from the domaine parcel planted in the 1930s; they were destemmed and gently fermented and are now ageing in barrel. The wines throughout this cellar have been exemplary this year.

Boasting forward, ripe blackberry fruit aromas and flavours on the initial attack, this also has nuances of savoury and floral notes. There is more silky density than the Brûlées, but less tannic grip. The substantial levels of extract mean that this lingers on the palate, but without feeling heavy. The Chaumes from deeper clay soils is often substantial but also earlier to mature.

Among the better wines from this appellation tasted in 2024. There is a lovely expressive mulberry and bramble fruit aroma with hints of earth, cedar and smoke. The concentration and density of extract are matched by the firm, grippy tannins and the dynamic fruit flavours on the palate continue on a lingering finish. The grapes are from a quarter-hectare above Rouget. This wine will open in three to five years and should drink well for a further 20 – a very nice success.

This Vosne Premier Cru Aux Brûlées is less forward than the village-level wines in this cellar, but on the palate dark mulberry and blackberry fruit develops with notes of earth, smoke and a burst of limestone minerality. The texture is firm, tannic and structured. The grapes (excluding the young vines used in the village wine) were fermented as 50% whole bunch. Three barrels were produced, of which one was new. The wine is still in barrel and may be racked in March of 2026.

The ‘classic’ Malconsorts from de Montille is a beautiful wine in 2024, with nuanced aromas of ripe cherry and pomegranate. The texture is silky, and on the palate the fruit expands to include a savoury, almost gamey note. The grapes are from the two parcels totalling 0.9ha in the centre of Malconsorts; in 2024, they were fermented as 85% whole bunches. This wine will require three to five years to begin to open up and will continue to improve in the bottle for decades.

The aromas of the 2024 Romanée-St-Vivant from Domaine de l’Arlot are a bit shy at first, but on the palate, the fully ripe plum and blackberry fruit aromas begin to reveal themselves. The texture is silky, almost lush, and there is great elegance, particularly given the difficult vintage. The grapes are from the domaine’s 0.25ha in the section once known as the Clos des Quatre Journaux just up the slope from the Dujac vines. Two barrels were produced in 2024.

Although light in colour, this is fragrant with lovely cherry/pomegranate fruit, accents of leather and spice. The texture shows great finesse, with silky tannins but enough substance to carry the wine to a surprisingly long finish. The grapes are from the domaine-owned plot at the southern extremity of the upper portion of Suchots. This wine will require a few years to open fully, but it has the potential to age for at least 20 years.

This boasts engagingly plummy fruit with hints of liquorice, earth and oak spice, with the wood's influence well integrated. Louis-Michel Liger-Belair remarked that it had something of Nuits-St-Georges about it, saying: ‘I don’t really have a reference as to how a Malconsorts should be.’ I vote for his rendition. This should be accessible soon after opening, but shows the substance to lay down for mid-term ageing – I like this one a lot.

Opening with a faint smoky reduction, over time an attractively ripe raspberry fruit character comes to the fore, with hints of spice and smoke. The tannins are firm but not astringent, balancing the fresh acidity and carrying the wine to a satisfying finish. The grapes are from two parcels on the Vosne side of the village, in Aux Barrières and Bas de Combe; the wine lacks the ‘rustic’ edge of some Nuits, but still has a slightly exotic, gamey side.

There is a single barrel of Charmottes this year, after poor flowering, too much water, and a bit of frost are all taken into account. The wine that survived is lovely, with admirable concentration of ripe plummy fruit and hints of leather and earth. The tannins are a bit more supple than the Aux Allots, and there is an elegant balance on the lingering finish.

This wine is a step up from Les Charmottes in concentration and depth, with attractive aromas of black plum, violets and ginger spice. The texture is surprisingly tannic, and there is a rewardingly chunky density on the finish. The domaine owns a quarter-hectare here in the well-drained soils near town. The grapes are organically grown and fermented as whole bunches.

The Clos de la Maréchale has more density than the Chambolle premiers crus, but less bright limestone minerality. The wine is supple and round, with a reasonable concentration of plummy fruit and notes of earth and leather. The texture is dense but not particularly tannic. This wine should be approachable not too long after release and will be suitable for mid-term ageing.

Gabriel Camphuis of Maison Edouard Delaunay explains that the house made only a single barrel of Les St-Georges: ‘We were greatly affected by the weather; we battled for this wine, and the result is what we hoped for.’ The ripe mulberry fruit with hints of ground coffee, smoke and violets is delicious, particularly given the vintage. Since there was only one barrel, they started it in a new one and racked it halfway through to a used one to avoid excessive oak spice.