2012 Domaine Arlaud Père & Fils Clos de la Roche Cuvée Unique Reserve Grand Cru

The 2012 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru has a beguiling, very stony bouquet, like walking into a sea cave. The palate is crisp on the entry with tightly wound red berry fruit. The acidity is nicely judged and the oak disguised so it is barely noticeable on the finish. There is plenty of energy here waiting to be uncoiled with bottle age. After scheduling and re-scheduling numerous times during my November tastings, I finally reached Domaine Arlaud Pere & Fils for the first time in late January. But good things come to those that wait and I found much to admire in Cyprien Arlaud’s 2012s. The origin of the estate dates back to a wedding in 1949 when Joseph Arlaud married Renee Amiot. Among the wedding presents were tracts of vineyard, which is always more useful than a toaster or an ornamental clock. Joseph was succeeded by Herve Arlaud in 1982 and invested in new vineyards and the estate has now been passed to his three children: Cyprien, Romain and Bertille. The domaine has eschewed herbicides since 1999 and transferred the vineyards to organic viticulture in 2004, certified three years later. Naturally (no pun intended) they started embracing biodynamics in 2009, including the use of horses in the vineyard to reduce soil compaction. The winery was constructed in 2003 in Morey-Saint-Denis, on the “other side” of the RN74 away from the village, a less picturesque part of the appellation for sure, but with much more space to work in. The fruit is de-stemmed although Cyprien does play with whole cluster fruit subject to the growing season. Natural yeasts are used during alcoholic fermentation and oak tends to be 15-20% for village crus up to 40-80% for grand crus. When I visited the winery, it was after a long day tasting, but even so my senses lit up when I sipped the first sample. Here are wines made in a very pure and natural style, each evocative of their respective terroirs. Each wine was imbued with superb freshness and delineation; occasionally evoking images of the sea, at other times flowers. Cyprien explained how they wait for the optimal moment to harvest their vines, which can differ by days between different crus within the same appellation (see note for “Les Ruchots”.) Importer: North Berkeley Wine www.northberkeleyimports.com and also Raeburn Fine Wines (UK)

Palish red. Captivating aromas of strawberry, raspberry, brown spices, rust and rose petal. Silky on entry, then shapely and energetic, boasting excellent inner-mouth tension to the saline red berry, spice and orange peel flavors. This, too, spreads out nicely to saturate the palate, with the fine-grained tannins in perfect balance with the wine's fruit. A lovely Clos de la Roche in the making.