Domaine de l'Arlot Nuits-St-Georges Mont des Oiseaux Premier Cru 2018
-
Morris
Jasper -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The nose is fragrant with notes of black cherry, blackcurrant and violet. Subtle and delicate on the palate with acidulous notes of redcurrant, and a slightly peppery finish. The delicacy and elegance of this wine hint at great ageing potential.
Professional Ratings
-
Jasper Morris
This comes from younger vines in the upper part of the amphitheatre. Pretty pink to red colour with a most attractive perfumed, soft red fruit nose, quite floral. Medium bodied on the palate with some tannins behind and a healthy natural acidity. Medium length here, very typical of the fine-boned structure of a Premeaux wine.
Barrel Sample: 90-93 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced from young vines within the Clos de l'Arlot, the 2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Cuvée Mont des Oiseaux reveals scents of cherries, raspberries, warm spices and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied and youthfully chewy, with chalky tannins that will likely flesh out with further élevage.
Barrel Sample: 89-91
Other Vintages
2019-
Morris
Jasper -
Parker
Robert
Domaine de L'Arlot is one of the seminal properties in Nuits St. Georges. The domaine was co-owned by Jean-Pierre de Smet, who spent eight years alongside Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac before taking over L’Arlot in 1986. Today, the domaine consists of 14 hectares planted to mostly Pinot Noir, with 5% devoted to Chardonnay for their ultra-rare white wines. The oldest vines are 70+ years old, with the average age close to 50. While the estate’s core is in the monopoles of Clos des Forêts Saint Georges and Clos de l’Arlot, the domaine also consists of two parcels in the village of Vosne-Romanée that were added in 1991. The first is a plot in the Grand Cru Romanée Saint-Vivant that sits in the corner of the appellation, spilling into La Tâche on one side and Romanée-Conti on the other. The second is a prime parcel of Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots that sits on the border of Romanée Saint-Vivant. The addition of these incredibly placed sites only served to further cement the iconic status of the domaine.
In 2015 the very talented Geraldine Godot took over the domaine. While retaining the core values of l’Arlot, including biodynamic farming, Geraldine has brought her own style to this historic estate, with extraction kept to a minimum, and the wines seeing less new oak than in the past. All of this is done to preserve the gorgeous fruit from their cherished vineyards. With Geraldine’s inspired leadership, Domaine de l’Arlot is committed to maintaining their classic, elegant style of terroir driven wines in hopes of providing the sort of divine pleasure only classic Burgundy delivers.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Inhabiting the bottom end of the northern half of the Côte d’Or, Nuits-St-Georges is a busy, market-driven town and home to many of Burgundy’s negociants. It is also the largest town in the Côte d’Or after Beaune and contributes "nuits" to the name of Côte de Nuits (i.e., the northern half of the Côte d’Or).
The appellation itself is divided into two parts, where in the north it directly borders Vosne-Romanée, the southerly end is the commune of Prémeaux. There are no Grands Crus in this village, though it does have a large number of Premiers Crus.
The best Nuits-St-Georges Pinot Noir are layered with cherry, plum, underbrush and sandalwood. The fruit is sweet, the wine energetic, and the finish long and lush.