Wine Advisor
Domaine de L'Arlot, Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots 2005
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
My favourite of the l’Arlot wines that I tasted. A very fruit driven nose, quite fleshy with cherry and raspberry, all with good definition. The palate is very sweet but not cloying, with succulent red-berried fruits and joyous wild strawberry, redcurrants and briary. Good grip on the finish: I certainly prefer this to the Nuits-Saint-Georges. Fine. Tasted January 2007. Drink 2008-2012
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
Just assembled and in consequence a bit disturbed by sulfur in its finish, the 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots offers smoky, gamey, floral and black-fruited aromas, a rich, darkly-hued palate of blackberry, beet root, bitter chocolate and licorice, and fine-grained but substantial tannic structure. Jean-Pierre de Smet – who managed this estate since its 1987 purchase by the French insurance group AXA – has just turned over the reins to his young technical director Olivier Leriche. Practices here have been certified as biodynamic now for two years. The 2005s were all fermented with whole clusters. Numerous agents and U.S. importers including: Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642 5500, Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352 1100, Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300
About the Producer
Domaine d'Arlot is a new winery founded in 1987, but it has a long history of vineyards and owns three exclusive plots (a monopole, which means that a vineyard is the exclusive property of a single winery or winemaker): Clos du Chapeau, Clos de l'Arlot, Clos des Forets St Georges. 'Arlot, and Clos des Forets St Georges. In 1991, a small plot of Romanee St. Vivant was bought, and the following year a plot of Vosne Romanee Les Suchots was bought, bringing the vineyard to 14 hectares. The Domaine d'Arlot is one of the few exceptions to the rule of grandeur in Bourgogne. Around the end of the eighteenth century, Jean Charles Vienot, the owner of the place, built a stone wall around the vineyard, and the vineyard was named Domaine de l'Arlot. The Domaine de l'Arlot began to use organic farming methods in 2000 and was certified in 2014. The vineyards have been rebalanced and rejuvenated to produce healthier and riper grapes. The philosophy of the winery is: the less intervention the better. The grapes are hand-harvested, selected twice, only the best grapes are used, natural yeasts are used for fermentation, and the lees are pressed by hand, without using pumps as much as possible, to reflect the "terroir" of each field and lot, and to give the wine its personality.
