2017 Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Quartier de Marei Haut

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.

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.