Producer note: Technical director and winemaker Nadine Gublin noted that 2017 "commenced early which is good if there is no late frost, which there was but we lucked out and avoided any significant damage. This was not only fortunate but it also signaled that the vegetative cycle would be advanced. After that the growing season was favorable and once again we began the harvest in August with the whites on the 29th. We waited though to pick the reds so that we could be sure to have good levels of phenolic maturity and thus we started on the 6th of September and continued through to the 12th. The fruit was not only clean but importantly had homogenous maturities. We used varying amounts of whole clusters in the vinifications which is to say from zero to 100%. As to the wines, I find it interesting just how much they improved during the élevage and that is as true for the whites as it is the reds. Perhaps the most attractive qualities of the wines are their freshness and balance which should enable them to age effortlessly." I found the quality of the 2017 reds to be quite good and particularly so with those from the Côte de Nuits. Readers should also take a look herein at a new négociant partnership between Domaine Prieur and co-owner and general director Edouard Labruyère that is called Labruyère-Prieur Sélection. (Frederick Wildman, www.frederickwildman.com, NY, USA; Corney & Barrow, www.corneyandbarrow.com, UK; SAQ, www.saq.com, LCBO, www.lcbo.com and Philippe Danduran Wines, www.vinsdandurand.com, all Canada).
Tasting note: A discreet application of wood sets off the red and dark raspberry aromas that offer up wisps of underbrush and spice. Here too there is a beguiling mouth feel to the enveloping medium weight flavors that possess a velvety texture along with plenty of minerality that really comes up on the youthfully austere and softly rustic finish. This is slightly less refined but there is more depth and more aging potential.
