2017 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux

The 2017 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is 60% whole bunch fruit. It has a very natural, precise bouquet of almost crystalline red fruit infused with crushed stone, all correct and very focused. The well-balanced, tensile palate offers fresh acidity and an infectious sense of energy. Why can't all Clos Vougeot be as refined and enthralling as this? Outstanding. 2022 - 2045

Darkish colour, superb fruit, the lovely strict framework for this shows the vineyard to good effect without impeding the juicy fruit, more raspberry than the other red fruits, long and with noble character. Tasted: November 2018.

An intensely floral nose reveals notes of lavender, violet and rose petal that add a touch of elegance to the cool and airy aromas of various red berries and plenty of earth influence. There is both fine volume and power to the solidly concentrated and muscular broad-shouldered flavors that deliver excellent depth and persistence on the youthfully austere finale. This will require at least some patience and reward at least 12 to 15. Good stuff.

Vinified with fully 80% whole cluster, the 2017 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru offers up aromas of cherry, cassis and rose petal that mingle with savory bass notes of soil, incense and smoke. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and richly tannic, with a firm, somewhat blocky profile that is quintessentially Clos Vougeot, displaying excellent concentration in a year where frosted vines tended to yield generously. This is one of the cuvées that is making the most rapid progress at this address and it's well worth following.