Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru wines are those produced under the most-stringent conditions of the Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation, exclusively from grapes grown in officially classified Premier Cru vineyard sites.
© BIVB / DR
Nuits-Saint-Georges itself is a commune in the Cote de Nuits wine district of Burgundy. While the town does not boast any Grand Cru sites (unlike its neighbors), many of the 41 Premier Cru climats within its boundaries are considered to be amongst the finest in the district. A quarter of the appellation's Premier Cru sites are located within the commune of Premeaux-Prissey, just to the south of Nuits-Saint-Georges town. In terms of surface area, Nuits-Saint-Georges is the second-largest of the 26 commune appellations in the Cote d'Or, only fractionally smaller than Beaune.
Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru wines are predominantly red, made from Pinot Noir, although a small quantity (5% at most) are white wines produced from Chardonnay. The style of these wines is not particularly different from of the northern Cote de Beaune, just a short distance to the south. They have a generalized reputation as being well-structured and long-lived, and wines from several of the vineyards are considered to be of Grand Cru quality (the Saint-Georges vineyard being the most obvious example). There is an acknowledged style difference between the Premier Cru vineyards to the south of the town around Premeaux-Prissey and those to the north, next to Vosne-Romanee. The southern end produces a heavier style of wine, due to higher levels of clay in the soils, while the northern end leans towards a more floral, elegant style.
The Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru vineyards are neatly distributed in a narrow strip along the mid-slope of the Cote d'Or escarpment. Interrupted only by the buildings and roads of the town itself, they trace a line from the Grand Crus of Vosne-Romanee almost to the northern edge of Ladoix-Serrigny.
