“It’s a magical vintage,” he continues and describes the wines in their current state – emerging from the bottle for the first time – as ‘frightened almost’.
There can be a tendency among winemakers for extrovert displays; flash and brash spectacles of self-promotion and swagger. These have their place – and when the wines are good, they can often enhance the experience – but it’s the quiet ones you have to watch.
Burgundian winemaker Charles Arnoux from Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux firmly falls into the ‘quite ones’ category. He may not give it the big ‘I am’ when we meet at Corney & Barrow’s London HQ to taste his 2018 Burgundies but a flash of mustard sock as he turns on his heel to assess the wines is enough to suggest that while he’s clearly the type to let his wines do the talking, this isn’t a man devoid of character and spark.
There’s a comforting confidence in his manner which translates to the wines on show; all pristine, polished examples from the intense, low-yielding 2018 vintage.
Charles Lachaux
This is a year in which Charles almost reached his desired level of 100% whole-bunch fermentation, a practice he’s passionate about and believes adds fruit concentration and depth to his wines. There are many other such practices undertaken at Arnoux-Lachaux, most of which have been introduced since Charles took the reins in 2015.
In the vineyard, for example, over a third of the vines are now ‘arched’, which is an exercise which sees the top of the shoot bent over to create an arch as it grows long in the summer months. Traditionally the shears would come out and the shoot would be trimmed, but this way Charles can maintain a higher leaf-to-fruit ratio which he believes results in quicker phenolic maturity, an earlier harvest and potentially lower alcohol levels.
Charles with his vines, trained into arches © Wine Lister
When speaking about his approach to managing the Domaine and to the changes he has made Charles is quick to praise his young team that assists him in the vineyard and winery, and – just as importantly – with new ideas and holistic support.
“The team is very engaged,” he says. “They are not just vineyard workers, there is something different here, an energy, an engagement. As a team we are always trying to push things on… if the wines are the spirit and the soul, they are a reflection of the people who are making them.”
Charles is smitten with the 2018 wines – which look impressive in their new royal blue and gold livery – and sees the 2018 vintage as one which tells a story of innovation at the Domaine. “This was a time of replanting, post work and arching, new tractors, and the label re-design,” he says.
“It’s a magical vintage,” he continues and describes the wines in their current state – emerging from the bottle for the first time – as ‘frightened almost’.
What is clear when tasting these wines, which span 14.5 hectares of vines across six villages and 14 appellations, is the purity and intensity of fruit which runs like a thread through the collection.
There’s perfume and flowers in the Vosne-Romaneé Les Hautes Maizières, black pepper and earth in the Échézeaux Grand Cru Les Rouges, aluminium and slate in the Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Procès and redcurrant jelly and an aspic bite in the Bourgogne ‘Pinot Fin’, but above all across the entire line-up is the fruit; strawberries, pomegranate, raspberry, forest fruits… you name it.
Following the tasting it’s clear that Charles is quietly thrilled at the response to what is the first full line-up of these wines in bottle, but you can tell that above all he’s itching to switch his mustard socks for something more practicable and get back into the vineyard.
“The projects are not lacking at the moment,” he says. “I can’t wait to get back in the vineyard.”
The world according to Charles Arnoux, some other thoughts from the tasting:
- My wine is made to be drunk, not collected
- I dream about pruning
- There will be less food pairing for Burgundy wines in the future
- Orange wine – it masks the terroir
- Other people who don’t bother to do the work in the vineyard are not passionate enough
- We are farmers
- The old labels were too modern
My Top 5 wines from the 2018 collection
Vosne-Romanée, 2018
Fleshy with a robust character. Red fruits, lavender, cranberry and wet mountain stone. A tannic snap on the finish.
Vosne-Romaneé 1er Cru Les Grands Suchots, 2018
Rich with darker fruit. Earth, wet leaves, wood smoke and a hint of spice offset the firm forest fruit.
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Quartier de Marei Haut, 2018
Redcurrant and raspberry fruit and a lovely zip of red apple acidity. Svelte and delightfully weighted with an attractive dried rosemary note at the close.
Latricières-Chamertin Grand Cru, 2018
Black fruit and berries dominate. A medicinal edge and a dusting of black pepper give this real bite. Clean, bright and long.
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Poisets, 2018
Sweet fruit; pomegranate, raspberry and under-ripe plum. Delicate and clean with a mineral (slate) note. Svelte.
The wines of Arnoux-Lachaux are imported and distributed in the UK by Corney & Barrow
