The 2018 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots is showing brilliantly this year, wafting from the glass with a deep-pitched bouquet of cassis, blackberries, spices and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and enveloping, its textural attack segueing into a deep and layered core, concluding with a long and penetrating finish. Charles Van Canneyt has surpassed himself with the 2018 vintage, producing a set of wines that rivals his 2016s and 2015s as his finest to date. Deep, textural and incipiently complex, these are powerful but elegant wines that display a sense of energy and dynamism that some of the year's reds lack. Followers of Domaine Hudelot-Noellat will be familiar with Van Canneyt's approach in the cuverie and cellar: The predominantly destemmed fruit, retained intact, is fermented in cement tanks for a classical maceration of two to three weeks. elevage is in barrels emphasizing François Frères, with Cavin in a supporting role, and lasts fully 18 months with the exception of the Bourgogne Rouge, bottled before harvest. These in essence uncomplicated methods, combined with an enviable palette of appellations planted with notably old vines, produce elegant, charming wines with impressive substance and aging potential. I've been buying them for my own cellar(more...)

The 2018 Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots 1er Cru has a typically opulent, generous bouquet, as one would expect from this vineyard, armed with precocious black cherries, cassis and violet aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, a little more density than the Beaux Monts and a long, tender orange peel and white pepper finish. This is an excellent 2018 from Hudelot-Noellat.

This is the first wine to exhibit any appreciable reduction and it's enough to mask the fruit. More interesting are the velvety, generous and extremely rich flavors that coat the palate with sappy dry extract on the bitter cherry pit-inflected finale. As is usually the case, this is not as refined but it's definitely more powerful.