Domaine Georges Noëllat – Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts 2012 – Burgundy France

Maxime Cheurlin was twenty when he took over this estate in 2010, after two decades in which its fruit had simply been sold off to Jadot and Drouhin. Within a few vintages he had made it one of the most chased addresses in Burgundy. Les Beaux Monts is his oldest-vine premier cru — and this is a magnum from 2012.

🍷 At a Glance

• Grape: 100% Pinot Noir
• Appellation: Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts
• Region: Côte de Nuits, Burgundy
• Vintage: 2012
• Format: Magnum, 1.5 litres
• Producer: Domaine Georges Noëllat
• Winemaker: Maxime Cheurlin
• Vines: A large proportion over 80 years old, some parcels on the estate planted before the Second World War
• Estate: Around 5.5 hectares across Vosne-Romanée and northern Nuits-Saint-Georges, on clay-limestone
• Vinification: Hand-harvested and sorted, cold maceration, native yeasts, very little punching down
• Ageing: French oak, with new wood from 30% to 100% depending on the appellation
• Serving temperature: 15–17°C
• Style: Dry red wine

👃 Tasting Notes & Experience

• Color: Deep, bright ruby
• Nose: Wild flowers and wild berries, the signature of this cru at the domaine
• Palate: The most complete and intense of the estate's premiers crus, powerful without heaviness
• Structure: Fine tannins from gentle extraction
• Finish: Long, saline and persistent

The family history reads like a map of great Burgundy. Georges Noëllat was the nephew of Charles Noëllat, whose vineyards were eventually divided into the holdings that formed Jean-Jacques Confuron, Hudelot-Noëllat and the vast majority of Domaine Leroy. Maxime Cheurlin, who grew up in Champagne, is a nephew of the Jayer family and a cousin of Emmanuel Rouget's sons; he trained at Gros Frère et Soeur and at Rouget before taking the domaine on. His method is deliberately gentle — cold soak, wild yeasts, almost no punching down, and oak calibrated to the site. Magnums age more slowly and evenly, so a 2012 in this format is still some way from its peak.

❤️ Why We Love It

• Old-vine premier cru from a domaine that went from obscurity to cult in a few vintages
• Vines over 80 years old, in the format that ages best
• Three magnums only

🍽️ Food Pairing Ideas

• Roast game birds, duck and venison
• Truffle and wild mushroom dishes
• Aged Comté and hard cheeses

👤 Who This Wine Is For

✓ Collectors who want a large format from a genuinely scarce domaine
✓ Anyone laying something down for a table of six or more
✕ Not a bottle to open casually