The Crown Prince Ascends: Alain Michelot's Nephew Comes into His Own - Top 3 NSG Plus My Favorite HCDN

2015 Vincent Ledy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru "Les Porrets St. Georges - Jeunes Vignes" 
 - One of the Top 3 NSG Producers
 - Classic Les Porrets: Intense Fruit, Fresh and Refined
 - Super Aromatic Spectrum: Spices, Flowers, Wet Earth, Deep Berry Fruit, Deep Black Cherries, Stoney Minerals
 - Very Limited

2015 Vincent Ledy Bourgogne Hautes-Cote de Nuits
 - Easily Top End Village or 1er Cru Quality
 - Incredible Palate Presence and Fruit
 - As Deep and Rich an HCDN That Has Ever Been Made
 - The Prima Facie Case Against the Argument that You Cannot Get Great Burgundy for Under $31
 - Maybe Last Vintage for This Blend

Ledy's 2015s are unreal wines that just are truly profound and will age as long as the most famous

names. These are no frills, built for the long haul wines that truly shine with age. They are incredible young and one can see the potential but the time in the cellar is critical for these. Vincent is still learning his plots and vines and has just moved into a new cellar with more room and also, it seems to me, he is much much happier, as he has the space he needs. It is evident in his winemaking skills. The fruit quality of Ledy is right up there with past epic fruit producers I've had like Duroche and Thomas Bouley. The lower down the appellation ladder the better to drink now as the leap in intensity and structure from the Bourgogne to the NSG 1er Cru VV and all in between are humongous.  I think, once his wines are properly aged they will have the dramatic qualities of great Burgundy and the tops in all of the appellations he does.   

First up I have the 2nd vintage of the great 2015 Vincent Ledy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru"Les Porrets St. Georges - Jeunes Vignes" for as little as $79.99 each on a 3-pack. In 2013 it was one wine and in 2014 he separated it into two wines. The wine is flat out awesome and was the best wine of the very cold cellar on the particular day that we were there. It is a glorious bottle of wine and was so accessible and ready to drink popped and poured.  A super aromatic spectrum. Spices, flowers, wet earth, deep berry fruit, deep black cherries, stoney minerals and just fragrant. Wines can have nice aromas but this one has a deep, deep fragrance. Like a bouquet of flowers has a fragrance. It's intoxicatingly awesome. As fragrant as the nose was this was even more fragrant in the mouth when it comes to internal aromatics. Shockingly complete wine with not one particle of liquid not ensconced by the flavor intensity of the whole. Black fruits and red fruits with riveting intensity and backed up by major freshness. Astonishing purity and after 30 minutes this wine starts to get so refined. The finish is epic with that fruit core slathered with minerals and fresh acidity extending it as it dissipates for minutes on end. While obviously young this is a great drop today and can and will improve for up to 15 years easy. This is the wine to drink while you age the VV, which needs it. The sheer intensity of the fruit matched with that freshness and the refinement that a terroir like "Les Porrets St. Georges" brings to the table makes this one the great wines Vincent has made. It's an accomplishment.  This is, of course as expected, very limited. He had only a small parcel and Vincent has very low yields for this cuvee as well.

These are his babies and he is a proud papa when he presents them. What a wine. I can easily put this in a lineup of the top NSG (Mugneret-Gibourg NSG Chaignots, Gouges Vaucrains/Les St. Georges, Chevillon Vaucrains/Les St. Georges) and it would finish at top or in top 3. It is top, top wine.

Next up is the 2015 Vincent Ledy Bourgogne Hautes- Cote de Nuits for as little as $30.99 a bottle on the 4-pack. What a wine in 2015. I was blown blown away by this wine. I'm blown away by this wine in every vintage. It has the structure, intensity, power and concentration of a wine much more expensive.  There are no two ways about it. This is as deep and rich as a HCDN that has ever been made. This 2015 is beyond epic. The nose is beautiful with flowers, mineral, soil and deep red/blue fruit. Insane freshness. Terrific purity. Very special wine. So deep and utterly special fruit. Dark berry that is refined enough to drink with fish yet weighty enough to drink with steak.  The wine is so refined and so pure that it is easily top end village or 1er Cru status. The structure suggests a 10+ year aging curve. You will not believe this wine.  I cannot recommend this enough.  There is incredible palate presence and fruit here along with some serious structure.  Just terrific.  It may not mean much to you if I say this is the best Hautes Cotes de Nuits ever but you have to understand I've tasted a lot of Hautes Cotes de Nuits of varying quality and to today tell you this is the best one it's a big deal.   This could be a Vosne-Romanee village wine and no one would be the wiser.

I recently had the 2012 and the 2014. The 2012 was drinking better but the 2014 was the better wine as that was Vincent's breakthrough vintage. I have always loved this wine. Recently I was Facebook messaging Vincent and he asked me if he should make two cuvées of his Hautes-Côte de Nuits. A young vines version and an old vines version. I had a eureka moment because this explained why this wine was friggin great. It had special old vines in it that brought the intensity to a wine and a region that it not normally known for profound wines that can age 15-20 years with outsized structures and massive fruit. Well this wine was and is. And it's because it's really a higher end cuvee in the normal version. Thus a sick value. Vincent is very busy harvesting now and in the winery all the time but he showed me two pictures of the HCDN in 2018 in tank separated into old and young vines. This is very very exciting but also it means the price will go up on both cuvées and the regular cuvee will be different. It will be awesome as this is Ledy but different than it is now. So basically this is a ridiculous value and hot commodity.


Ledy's HCDN's need 4-5 years of age (hence the delayed release), 5-10 for the middle wines and 10-15 for the 1er Crus. These are conservative forecasts. 2012/2011 is are great vintages to drink now at Ledy.

2015 Vincent Ledy  Vincent Ledy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru "Les Porrets St. Georges - Jeunes Vignes" - $81.99 ($239.97 3-pack) (VERY LIMITED)

2015 Vincent Ledy Bourgogne Hautes-Cote de Nuits - $32.99 

($123.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)