Domaine Georges Noëllat

Domaine Georges Noëllat is located in Vosne-Romanée in the southern part of Côte de Nuits, Burgundy. Georges Noëllat was the nephew of Charles Noëllat, the once powerful owner of one of Vosne-Romanée's largest domains—a domain that made significant contributions to Domaines Jean-Jacques Confuron and Hudelot Noëllat—and even constituted the majority of the current vineyards of Domaine Leroy.

 

From 1990 and for well over 20 years, Georges Noëllat sold his production to Jadot and Drouhin. In 2010, the then 20-year-old Maxime Cheurlin took over the management of Noëllat after his grandmother Marie-Thérése Cheurlin. Maxime grew up in Champagne, but apparently, it is Burgundy wine that runs in his veins; he is a nephew of the Jayer family and a cousin to Emmanuel Rouget's sons. After completing his studies at Lycée Viticole in Beaune in 2009, Maxime interned at Domaine Emmanuel Rouget and Domaine Gros Frère et Soeur.

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The vineyards are few but powerful. The modest 5.5-hectare domain includes some of the most serious terroirs in Vosne-Romanée and northern Nuits-Saint-Georges. Maxime inherited a large portion of old vines, which he has preserved, requiring special attention and care. His approach to cultivation is based on the principle of "lutte raisonnée" (reasoned struggle), a more pragmatic approach where crops are monitored more closely, and chemical treatments are reluctantly used only in response to an imminent threat.

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Early in his career, Maxime has established a reputation for his extremely elegant style (see statements below). Grapes are hand-harvested, 100% destemmed (except in some rare cases where up to 30% of stems are included), and undergo a cool maceration for a few days before fermentation begins, using indigenous, natural, wild yeast. Maxime prefers the term "infusion" over "extraction," so "Punch Downs" are rare and done very gently, if at all. He believes that the intensity of his terroir can withstand new oak, so he uses 30-100% depending on the appellation and vintage. Aging lasts 14-20 months, and the wines are generally bottled without fining or filtering.

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Neal Martin, Wine Advocate: "Maxime seems to be a driven young vigneron whose tenets have been instilled from an early age, but wow – what potential!"