Cote de Nuits Wine Region, Burgundy: 10 Fine Bottles To Buy (2024)

The Côte de Nuits of Burgundy is a fantastic treasure trove for wine lovers. 

This northern half of the famed Cote d’Or region specializes in exquisite Pinot Noir wine - with some of the most expensive bottles hailing from the Grand Cru vineyards of Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle Musigny. 

That said, Grand Cru vineyards only make up just over 1% of Burgundy, and regions like Cote de Nuits have more to offer than just Grand Cru wines.

This article will look at the Cote de Nuits appellation and some notable Cote de Nuits Villages. We’ll also tell you the best fine wine bottles to buy and the investment potential in Cote de Nuits wines.

A Quick Look At Côte de Nuits: Burgundy’s Northern Gem

Côte de Nuits occupies the northern expanse of Cote d’Or on the limestone escarpment that is the backbone of Burgundy wine. The region begins south of Dijon, ending where Cote de Beaune starts. 

While you’ll find Rosé and white wine here, it’s the exquisite red Burgundy that’s the region’s claim to fame. 

Côte de Nuits is noted for its 24 Grand Cru vineyards and over 100 Premier Cru vineyards.

Cote de Nuits Terroir

Cote de Nuits vineyard soils are highly varied, typical of Burgundy. Most vineyard areas contain a limestone base with marl, often including a mix of gravel and sand. 

The ever-changing weather in northern Côte de Nuit, combined with the varied vineyard terroir, allows for an incredible array of expressions in the wines. 

Cote de Nuits Grapes

The two primary grapes used in the Côte de Nuits region are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. About 95% of Côte de Nuits wine is from the expressive Pinot Noir grape. 

While Cote de Beaune is known for its white wine, Cote de Nuits produces a small amount of white wine using Chardonnay grapes - including wines from the Vougeot Premier Cru vineyard and Musigny Grand Cru vineyard.

Winemaking in Cote de Nuits 

Winemaking in Côte de Nuits is done on a tiny scale. 

A typical estate makes 50-1,000 cases annually, compared to Bordeaux chateaux that often produce over 20,000 cases. 

The vineyard area is highly fragmented and can be owned by multiple owners. Producers can own 2-3 rows of vine and either produce a varietal wine, use it in a blend, or sell to a negociant. 

Negociants may purchase fruit from the same vineyard to make more cases of a Grand Cru or Premier Cru wine. 

A producer’s style is born out of different vinification decisions - from grape destemming, length of maceration and fermentation, and use of indigenous yeasts, to the oak barrel aging regimen. 

Because of the complexity of vineyard ownership, most wine connoisseurs place more weight on producer reputation than vineyard name when evaluating Burgundy wine. 

Next, some of the best bottles to collect:

10 Incredible Cote de Nuits Wines To Buy Now

The Cote de Nuits offers a plethora of elegant, complex wines to buy. Here are some of our favorites:

• 2015 Domaine Leroy Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
• 2015 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tache Grand Cru Monopole
• 2016 Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Chambertin Grand Cru
• 2015 Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru
• 2014 Domaine Georges & Christophe Roumier Les Cras, Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru
• 2019 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru
• 2018 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru 
• 2016 Louis Jadot Clos Saint-Jacques, Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru 
• 2018 Domaine Faiveley Les Cazetiers, Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru
• 2018 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanee

1. 2015 Domaine Leroy Clos de la Roche Grand Cru ($8741)

The 2015 Clos de la Roche is a complex, intense wine. Experience a structured, robust palate with layers of mineral, savory herbs, and depths of granite nuances in this expressive vintage. 

2. 2015 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tache Grand Cru Monopole ($7169)

This beautiful wine from La Tache’s old vine fruit delights with exquisite floral, red fruit, and sandalwood notes on the nose. The palate displays fabulous strawberry and raspberry flavors intermingling with mocha, spices, and cream. 

3. 2016 Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Chambertin Grand Cru ($3661)

This impressive 2016 Chambertin vintage offers layers of succulent cherry, cinnamon, oak, and sandalwood notes. It is an intensely flavored red wine with a rich, full-bodied structure and a complexly brilliant, long finish.

4. 2015 Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru ($1496)

The 2015 Joseph Drouhin Musigny offers an exciting complexity of aromas in notes of black cherry, plum, smoke, tar, meat, and violets. The full-bodied palate is deep, pure, tannic, and powerful.  

5. 2014 Domaine Georges & Christophe Roumier Les Cras, Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru ($831)

This superb 2014 Les Cras vintage delivers an aromatic nose of plum and violet, black cherry, cocoa intertwined with woodsmoke. The palate is full-bodied with black fruit notes and refined tannins, ending on a seamless, long finish. 

6. 2019 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru ($536)

This delicious wine from the Clos de Lambrays vineyard displays an intense bouquet dominated by black fruit with notes of graphite, limestone, and iris blooms. On the palate, tasting notes include white pepper and tobacco, ending on an aromatic finish. 

7. 2018 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru ($371)

This Premier Cru vintage comes from young vine parcels in Musigny. It’s deeply colored, youthful, and vigorous with flavors of black cherry, raspberry, and dark chocolate balanced with a fine thread of acidity. 

8. 2016 Louis Jadot Clos Saint-Jacques, Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru ($212)

The 2016 bottling of Clos St Jacques offers the aromatic complexity of red and black cherry, dark chocolate intermingling with smoke, meat, and cedar. The palate is full-bodied, rich, and dense with a stony, long finish.

9. 2018 Domaine Faiveley Les Cazetiers, Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru ($110)

This Premier Cru offering from the Domaine Faiveley winery displays tantalizing aromas of ripe strawberry, violet, and cherries. The medium to full-bodied palate is broad and concentrated, with rich structured tannins and subtle minerality on the long finish.

10. 2018 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanee ($84)

This lovely village wine from Grivot offers an enticing nose of black cherry, raspberry, and crushed violets. The rich palate is balanced and harmonious, laden with ripe fruit, fine tannins, and bright acidity.

How would these gorgeous wines from the Cote de Nuits region perform as an investment?

Investing in Cote de Nuits Wines 

Cote de Nuits is home to the who’s-who of top-tier Pinot Noir wine producers of Burgundy, with the likes of Romanee-Conti, Rousseau, and Leroy. 

However, it’s not only the Grand Cru wines that perform. Premier Cru wines are also promising:

• The 2015 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache Grand Cru Monopole appreciated by 25% from $5720 in 2019 to $7170 in 2021. 

• The 2014 Domaine Georges & Christophe Roumier Les Cras, Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru showed an even more dramatic rise within a 2-year period. It went from $430 in 2019 to almost double at $830 in 2021.

Quality and scarcity are the driving forces behind the price appreciation, with such small amounts produced annually. 

Don’t want to miss out on a bottle of this investment-worthy wine?

Vinovest is a world-class online wine investment company that will help you source, buy, store, and sell hard-to-find wines from all over the world. 

Next, let’s take a look at some famed communes.

6 Main Cote de Nuits Communes

Cote de Nuits covers 14 communes, with six producing Grand Cru wines:

• Morey-St-Denis is famed for full-bodied red wine, particularly from its five Grand Cru vineyards; Clos de la Roche, Clos des Lambrays, Clos St. Denis, Clos de Tart, and Bonnes Mares (which it shares with the Chambolle Musigny commune.)

• Marsannay-la-Côte produces wine of three colors; red and rosé from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay white wine - quite unique for Burgundy.

• Chambolle has chalky vineyard soils, resulting in lighter wines and finely edge aromas.

• Vougeot has just one Grand Cru — the over 120-acre Clos de Vougeot — massive by Burgundy standards. But variation in its terroir and over 75 owners means wines from the single Clos de Vougeot vineyard can be as different as wines from entire communes elsewhere.

• Gevrey Chambertin has nine Grand Crus, more than any other village. These include Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Beze, which are known for their fine red Burgundy wines.

• Vosne Romanee has some of the most famous vineyards globally, including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti monopoles, Romanée-Conti and La Tâche.

While the Cote de Nuits region is famed for its Grands Crus and Premiers Crus, wines of other classifications are also produced here. 

Cote de Nuits Wine Classification

Here’s a quick rundown of the Cote de Nuits wine tiers:

A. Bourgogne AOC

All wines made in Cote de Nuits are entitled to the basic AOC Bourgogne appellation. These are typically based on color, like Bourgogne Rouge for red wine, or Bourgogne Blanc for white wine. 

The Bourgogne label can also be followed by grape type, like Bourgogne Pinot Noir or Bourgogne Chardonnay — which, notably, isn’t allowed for other wine tiers. 

B. Côte de Nuits Villages

The “Côte de Nuits Villages” appellation name is a step up from the general Bourgogne appellation. This is for wine from five smaller communes: Fixin, Brochon, Prémeaux, Comblanchien, and Corgoloin. 

Slightly above that are the “individual village” appellation names — with the wine labeled with the name of its producing village (like Gevrey Chambertin or Chambolle Musigny.) 

C. Premier Cru

The Premier Cru wine appellation is the next level above the village appellation, corresponding to individual vineyards with the potential for distinctly superior wine.

D. Grand Cru

Grand Crus represent the best sites, producing extraordinary, concentrated wine that benefits from years of aging in the bottle. These are the kings of Pinot Noir wine, exhibiting an incredible range of textures and flavors.

Interestingly, the largest Burgundy Grand Cru, Corton, isn’t in Cote de Nuits but Cote de Beaune. It’s also the only red Grand Cru in the Beaune region.

Savor The Flavors of Cote de Nuits

Driving south from Dijon, you’d pass an impressive list of Cote de Nuits vineyards offering an intoxicating array of flavors at various price points. The region also continues to be a strong source of investment-worthy fine wine. 

However, if you’re not fortunate enough to be in the Cote d’Or, you can always rely on Vinovest to help you get those precious bottles of wine.

Vinovest offers an easy way to buy, store, and sell fine wine from any part of the world. 

Visit their website today and get started on an impressive wine portfolio!