Highlights: Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forets St Georges 2015
Website: https://www.arlot.com/en/
Really loved this wine from L’Arlot. This property is part of the AXA Portfolio, and Christian Seely has been in overall charge since 2007. This was one of the first vintages where current winemaker/technical director Géraldine Godot was running things at the domaine. In the end, the terroir seems to triumph over the solar vintage of 2015. This wine is made from a 7.2 ha monopole clos in Nuits Saint Georges, with a range of soil types in the vineyard: Adoix limestone at the bottom, Premeaux limestone in the middle, and white oolite limestone in the upper part, with ochre silt in some places. This clos is planted entirely to Pinot Noir.
Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forets St Georges 2015 Bourgogne, France
13.5% alcohol. This is really aromatic with sweet cherries and plums with some undergrowth and tar hints: it’s ripe and generous on opening, but after a few hours this really comes into its own: the solar vintage dominates at first, but then the terroir emerges. The palate has density and fine spiciness, with sleek black fruits, some chalky minerality and then some dried herb character. This is bold and rich with good structure. Warm and ripe, but retains elegance, with a touch of iodine on the finish, and then a very detailed long mineral, spicy finish. This is a great example of how initial impressions (ripe and open) can be misleading: there’s seriousness here beneath the sweet fruit. 96/100
UK retail for current release (2020) is c £70.
