2003 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Poisets

Pascal Lachaux claimed to have done a total of 13 passes through his vineyards during the 2004 growing season to stave off any serious maladies of the vine. According to Lachaux, the Arnoux holdings experienced little hail on August 23; rather, the problem in 2004 was more a lack of ripeness. At the time of my visit, Lachaux planned to rack his 2004s at the end of November, allow them to settle in cuve for a month or two, and then bottle quickly "to avoid hardening the tannins. "Lachaux told me he vinified in 2004 "as usual," which is to say with minimal pigeage. He pressed very lightly to avoid crushing the seeds. The typical 2004 was picked with alcohol in the 12. 7% range and chaptalized a half degree to extend the fermentations. Lachaux maintains that 2004 has more stuffing, elegance and fruit than either 2001 or 2000. "The wines still showed some vegetal notes in the spring, but these have disappeared in recent months. Today they're very pinot. "

Pascal Lachaux believes that vintages 2002 and 2003 reflect the culmination of his improved vineyard work.Like a number of his neighbors on the Cote de Nuits, Lachaux lost some crop in 2003 to caterpillars that ate the buds at the end of April.Ultimately, he made half of a usual crop, with even the yields in his village vines in the tiny 20 hectoliters-per-hectare range. Lachaux was especially sensitive to the high ratio of skins to juice in 2003.He told me he did no pigeage at all for fear of getting hard tannins. He acidified the musts lightly to protect against bacterial problems during the fermentation. The 2003s were racked last July, and were slated to be racked again at the end of November, before going into cuve in advance of a bottling in January.Lachaux compared the fat of vintage 2003 to 1971, but noted that the '71s had even higher sugars.Incidentally, Lachaux told me that 2002 is the best vintage he has made to date."Nineteen ninety-nine is also great, but it doesn't have the same balance," he added.(Represented by Russell Herman, Berkeley Heights, NJ; imported by V.O.S. Selections, Inc., New York, NY; also a Peter Vezan selection; imported by The Stacole Co., Boca Raton, FL; and Import!, Madison, WI)