Picked up this bottle because I wanted to try this producer. I have an ‘18 Domaine Arlaud Aux Cheseaux stashed away but want to wait on that.
It’s a 2022 vintage, and first time I felt that a wine was too young – tannins too zippy and fruit hasn’t presented itself. Led to a wine that wasn’t super distinctive.
Is this because it’s a en entry-level bottle from this producer? Or is 2022 just too young to open?
Tasting notes below:
Nose: dried cranberry, black licorice, bubble gum, juicy plum
Palate: oak, medium tannins, cherry, earthy.
by charactertech
9 Comments
Depends on what profile you want. You can definitely drink Burgundy young, esp bottles like this. But the ones with more stuffing are gonna be a bit in your face with some components (tannin, acidity, fruit, etc). If you want it to be more mellow then yeah some age might be good.
Giving it some air and choosing bottles with low percentage of new oak aging is usually what I go with for early drinkers
The answer lacks some background, but yes, most white burg benefits from age, even bourgogne blancs.
I start pulling the corks around 5 years in. Most premier cru’s and up will mature for 10-20 years with ease.
For what it’s worth, this particular wine is declassified old vine Gevrey-Chambertin, so it’ll definitely age well for 5-15 years.
Sometimes it reveals itself after opening it and not putting it back on ice.
I tried 4 vintages of this cuvée from 2018 until 2021. Will definitely improve in a couple of years. You are not looking for tertiary notes here, but as you said, a better structure.
But the fact you had no fruit is disturbing, it’s 100% what you’re looking for in there… maybe “hidden” by the harsh structure or a bad temperature/glass ?
Domaine Arlaud ‘Roncevie’ Bourgogne Rouge is a very sweet spot of red Burgundy.
‘Roncevie’ is a lieu-dit within Gevrey-Chambertin that lost its village AOC status in 1964 due to a political reason. So, this vineyard, which is surrounded by Gevrey-Chambertin (village-level) vineyards, can only claim to be ‘Bourgogne.’ But, the quality is almost as good as a village Gevry-Chambertin.
In addition, there is something very uncompromising about Arlaud’s winemaking. The fruit quality of this wine definitely punches above the Bourgogne class.
When I do a horizontal tasting of a Burgundy producer, I often notice a sharp drop in quality between village wines and a Bourgogne. For this Roncevie, however, its fruit quality is often on a part with some village wines (though this not a complex wine).
It’s likely that the wine that you tasted was very young and primary (very floral and almost bubble gum). Maybe, it hasn’t recovered from some travel shock. Just several months of aging can change that.
I know a Burgundy connoisseur who buys a few cases of this wine in a good vintage, hold it for 3-5 years and drink it like a house wine.
This wine can take some aging. The fruit will become more mature, more tertiary notes will emerge. But, it doesn’t gain much complexity. So, I would drink while its fruit is still lively.
In my opinion, when it comes to aged wines, I’ve had better experiences with white wines than red wines. And white burg in particular with age on it is truly special. I haven’t had any extreme examples, but I had a premier cru Chablis with about 17 years of age on it that was just sensational.
Red Burgundy needs 20 years, at which point it reveals why Burgundy is a ripoff.
Pinot Noir can certainly be drank young. Everyone’s preferences are different so some people will prefer more age. I’m guessing this was just a more simple expression and your expectations may have been higher. Burgundy prices are high and a Bourgogne AOC wine will likely not be a top quality expression of Burgundy. Looking at the producer’s website, there’s very little details about the winemaking process and this is their entry-level Pinot. They state “The wines from Roncevie are juicy, sweet tooth, fruity. But the amateur will discover a true deepness into this refreshing and easy-going wine.” This doesn’t strike me as a wine that is meant to be aged for long, but maybe it would improve with a few years of cellaring.