2013 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

According to Cyprien Arlaud, "the 2013s are perfectly marked by their terroir--like the 2010s, which are even better." Although the wines from bottle do not generally show the same crunchy, tart red fruits I tasted from bottle, they have maintained excellent freshness and energy and should age gracefully. The Arlauds did not start harvesting until October 6 but Cyprien noted that they rarely have problems with rot due to their practice of leaf-pulling to open up the clusters.

This was the first estate I visited during my November marathon, and so it provided me with my first impression of the young 2013s. The Arlaud 2013s are distinctly red-fruity in character, with tangy, crunchy cranberry and pomegranate flavors and high-pitched floral aromas suggesting early harvesting. But in fact Cyprien Arlaud assured me that he and his brother Romain brought in most of their fruit after October 6 with relatively healthy potential alcohol levels in the 12% to 12.5% range (the wines were chaptalized no more than half a degree, according to Arlaud). Yields were higher here than in 2012 but sill moderate (about 40 hectoliters per hectare for the village wines and 35 for the grand crus). These are sappy, pungently fruity 2013s, some of them a bit tart in the early going. For his part, Arlaud describes them as "fresh and expressive of their terroirs, like the 2010s, but without quite the hauteur of 2010."