Terroir Insight: Domaine Patrice Rion, Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Argilliéres

Nuits-Saint-Georges is Les Argilliéres or Clos des Argilliéres is a favorite of mine – a 1er cru located in the center of Premeaux at the southern end of the Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation.

The by far largest owner of this delightful terroir is Domaine Patrice Rion, and while Patrice and his son Maxime are making tremendous wines they are strangely a bit overlooked by many collectors.

Les Argilliéres seen from the top – Domaine Patrice Rion to the left at the bottom

So lets take a closer look at the Domaine Patrice Rion, Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Argilliéres.

Premeaux-Prissy – the missing appellation

The Premeaux appellation was sort of lost in the classification .. and the vineyards are now a part of the large and sadly very diverse Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation.

To the north of the Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation we have one or perhaps even two sections, that are more closely related to Vosne-Romanée. South of the Nuits-Saint-Georges town we have the “classic Nuit-Saint-Georges” area with vineyards like Les Saint-Georges, and after this section we have the last and southern part of Nuits-Saint-Georges – the Premeaux area – or if you like the Premeaux-Prissey appellation.

1. Clos des Grandes Vignes
2. Les Forêts
3. Aux Perdrix
4. Aux Corvées
5. Aux Corvées Pagets
6. Clos St. Marc
7. Les Argilliéres
8. Clos Arlot
9. Clos de la Maréchale

The Premeaux appellation – most of it shown on the map above – is in my view a very interesting area with several monopoles and a area that has experienced a tremendous improvement in quality the last 10 to 15 years.

Domaine Patrice Rion is one of the local producers – located at the entrance to Premeaux coming from Nuits-Saint-Georges – the beautiful estate buildings are located just below the road and just above the 1er cru Clos des Grandes Vignes.