100% Pinot Noir.
The colour is an intense crepuscular crimson with a hint of mauve. The nose features rose and liquorice. The young red wine has aromas of cherry, strawberry and blackcurrant, and when matured, leather, truffle, fur, game. Notes of macerated fruits (prune) complete the picture. Muscular and vigorous, chewy and full-bodied, its structure is both well built and well-balanced and it is long in the mouth. It is most fully enjoyed after several years’ laying down which rounds it out and underlines its sensuality and breeding.
Powerful and strongly-built, this is the wine that confers on the Côte de Nuits its noble reputation of a sturdy character. Its normal partners would be any meat that is full-flavoured (roast lamb, ribeye steak, or duck breast), as the wine firmly coats and envelops the meat fibrous texture. Sophisticated diners will also serve it with certain fish dishes such as carp in red-wine sauce. Cheeses: soft centred cheeses in the style of Époisses, or Langres.
Serving temperature: 15 to 16°C.
Domaine J-J Confuron is named after the father of Sophie Meunier, who now runs the domaine with her husband Alain Meunier. Gradually they are handing it over to their son Louis.
Since Louis has taken over the winemaking there have been some changes, but as they have no fixed 'recipe' it is hard to be precise - the levels of new wood seem to have dropped slightly, and like a lot of growers Louis has used some whole-bunch fermentation. On the whole they are relatively early pickers, and the wines have a generous depth of fruit. Although they have been organic since the 1990's Louis is concerned that the soils are still not in the best of health, so he is trying grassing over - but is concerned that this can mean competition for the vines and lower yields. In general he's trying to improve biodiversity in the vineyards, but says that they are going at it by feel, with small changes to see what works - a very practical hands-on approach.
The domaine is now at around 9.22 hectares, including 0.48 hectares in Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Chabœufs one third planted in 1979, the rest in 2012.
Nuits-Saint-Georges is a likeable and lively town with a centuries-old history of winemaking. It gives its name to the Côte de Nuits, and its patron saint, Saint Georges, gives his name to their most famous wine. Its AOC, which dates from September 1936, falls into two parts, divided by the town itself. The northern portion extends as far as the border of Vosne-Romanée, and the southern section lies partly in Nuits-Saint-Georges and partly in Premeaux. Corresponding differences are observed in the wines. Most of the wines grown here are Pinot Noir, but there are some plots planted with Chardonnay. The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, Bourgogne’s most famous wine-brotherhood, was founded here in 1934.
The soils in the northern sector derive from pebbly alluvium washed down from up-slope, or, in the low-lying parts, silty deposits from the river Meuzin. In the southern sector the alluvia at the base of the slope originate in the combe of Vallerots where there are deep marly-limestone soils, while at the top of the slope, the rock is almost at the surface. Exposures are mostly to the East or South-East.