(BH90-93 points) A brooding ripe earthy and very serious nose of backward and extremely primary dark berry fruit that carries a hint of animale over to the round yet detailed middle weight plus flavors that are very Nuits in character as the precise finish is impressively long and the moderately firm tannins are mildly rustic. But it's the depth that makes this a very special wine and this should age beautifully. Outstanding.

The Perrot-Minot 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges La Richemone Vieilles Vignes delivers scents and flavors of tart but ripe blackberry Maine blueberry machine oil and licorice. Firmly tannic but also glycerin-rich and brightly juicy and with low-toned suggestions of beef marrow and dark chocolate this formidable Pinot doesn't become too austere even when its finish turns toward crushed stone cherry pit and pencil lead. In fact it's positively vibratory in its reverberative fruit-mineral-herb interplay that will leave your mouth wrung-out. I would plan to chart this wine's coarse fearlessly for 15 or more years but don't look to it for elegance or charm. (This is another site from which Perrot-Minot has on occasion bottled the oldest vines separately as an "Ultra" cuvee but not this year.) -DS