Review: Moillard 2012 Haute Cote de Nuits

The low-down: We shift gears away from some of the high profile pinot noirs we have had lately (the 2008 Gevrey Chambertin, the 2005 Maison Maume and the 2003 Morey St Denis) to a modest Bourgogne rouge similar to the 2011 Philippe Charlopin we opened earlier this year.

Maison Moillard, based in Nuits-St-Georges, is an established Burgundy negociant producing over a 100 wines that span some famous Burgundy AOCs - they trace their history back to 1789. They own 28 ha of vine located predominantly in the Cote de Nuits along with 80ha in Languedoc-Roussoilon and 31 ha in Romania!

In Burgundy they have a maze of tunnels in which their 6 million bottles are stored. So the legend goes that various generations of Moillards bought property after property in Nuits, annexed the cellars and later sold the above properties but kept the underground storage for bottles and barrels.

Haute Cote de Nuits isn't a formal AOC. Created in 1961, the hill-top area is distinguished from the more-prestigious vineyards located on the mid-slopes below, which fall under the eight communal and 23 Grand Cru appellations of the Cote de Nuits.

The take: A light, transparent blood-red appearance. Plenty of legs. The nose is open, generous and floral with notes of tomato sauce and candied fruit. A smooth and fleshy attack. Mushrooms. Finishes with a peppery bite. Good balance. With time classic pinot flavours of cinnamon and tart fruit. Towards the end it unfortunately begins to lose its structure.

In closing: Good value, accessible Bourgogne.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Fact corner:

Country: France

Region: Bourgogne (AOC)

Producer: Maison Moillard

Vintage: 2012

Grape: Pinot Noir

Alcohol content: 13.0%

Serving temperature: n/a

Price range: Low-end

#photo #review #red #burgundy #france #pinotnoir #lowend #2012 #658outof10