Domaine Arnoux Lachaux NSG 2019 Bouteille (75cl)

Reviewed by

William Kelley

Published

2022-01-20

Drink Date

2021 - 2041

The 2019 Nuits-Saint-Georges Village is pretty and delicate, unwinding in the glass with aromas of raspberries, orange rind, cinnamon, potpourri and woodsmoke. Medium to full-bodied, supple and layered, it's seamless and refined, with melting tannins, lively acids and a long, perfumed finish. Charles Lachaux's meteoric ascent continues, and my prophesy several years ago (in one of my first articles in The Wine Advocate) as to the brightness of his future is well on the way to being realized. In the vineyards as in the cellar, Lachaux continues to push the boundaries, and it's immensely gratifying to see someone who considers that inheriting some of the greatest vineyards in the world imposes an obligation to take risks that others can't, rather than merely entitling him to a high bottle price. During several visits to the domaine this fall, I tasted both the bottled 2019s and the infant 2020s from barrel. As I wrote last year, 2019 vintage was the first produced from vines that were never trimmed during the growing season across the entire domaine, and yields ranged from the modest (24 hectoliters per hectare) to the nugatory (13 hectoliters per hectare). Lachaux picked early, with modest alcohol levels (hitting a maximum of 13.3%), and once again didn't destem. Macerations were short, lasting scarcely a week, and the presence of new oak further diminished. These 2019s were racked to tank and bottled later than the 2018s, and they showed fabulously in late 2021 (I even opened several bottles of Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny from my own cellar to follow the wines over several hours). Perfumed, sensual and seamless, they exemplify the ideal of intensity without weight, and they represent a step up over Lachaux's remarkable 2018s. In 2020, Lachaux tested the limits of the possible by deciding not to till his soils, nor even to mow the ensuing grass; and combined with the year's hydric deficit, yields were even more radically diminished, well into single figures. Some of the struggling vines barely reached the top trellising wire, producing tiny bunches of ultra concentrated fruit. Alcohol levels came in between 13% and 13.5%, and macerations were a touch longer than in the last few years. Barrels are used five times at this address, so percentages of new oak are very modest, and Lachaux is also experimenting with ceramic vessels with great success. Deep, vibrant and intense, these are Charles's best wines to date, but they're also still incredibly primary, and he intends to extend élevage longer than in either 2019 or 2018. Given the tiny quantities produced, allocations are sure to be commensurately small, and Lachaux is no longer participating in the en primeur system; but for a lucky few, true magic awaits.

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