2015 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

Cyprien Arlaud bases his picking dates on "ripeness and texture of tannins" and is not afraid of the possibility that acidity levels will drop as he waits for phenolic maturity. He told me that he had problems with loss of acidity in 2000, 2006 and 2007, but not in recent years thanks to his use of cover crop between the rows.

Arlaud started harvesting on September 7, with potential alcohol levels mostly between 13% and 13.5%, and did not chaptalize. The only sorting was to eliminate very small berries on his younger vines that did not ripen properly, plus those that had been burned as a result of his sulfur treatments against mildew. He destemmed his village cuvées entirely in 2015, noting that he "likes to use vendange entier just for certain wines" (between 20% and 30% for all of his grand crus in 2015) and that he doesn't want to change the style of wines his customers are used to. Arlaud chills his incoming fruit to about 13 degrees C. if it comes in warmer than that, and it can take five to ten days for the fermentations to start. Like many of his colleagues on the Côte de Nuits, Arlaud reduced his percentage of new oak in 2015, to 15% for his premier crus and 20% for his grand crus. None of the Arlaud '15s had been racked at the time of my November visit.