2018 Nuits Saint-Georges Village

Charles Lachaux has been making waves since taking over the re-named domaine from his father and radically altering the modus operandi to create wines inspired by the tenets of Lalou Bize-Leroy, who took Lachaux under her wing. I have written about this domaine before so let's get on with the 2018 vintage. “Two-thousand and eighteen was generous in Burgundy, but we go against this trend," Lachaux pointedly tells me. "We picked 50% of the legal crop. There is just 165 barrels in 2018 instead of the 342 could have made in a normal crop. Part of the reason is that we were hailed in Prémeaux three times, twice in July and a small one in August. We continue not to trim around half the vines in 2018, but in 2019 this was done for the entire domaine. Debudding was strict in order to maintain low yields so that Village Crus were cropped at 22-28hl/ha, Premier Crus 19-25hl/ha and the Grand Crus 13-20hl/ha. It takes a lot of manpower. In 2018 we employed 18 people in the vineyard full-time - triple the usual number. We started the harvest on 3 September, first in Vosne-Romanée, the same date at Bizot and Leroy, incidentally growers that also conduct no trimming. I find that the fruit is becoming phenolically ripe earlier and it is important to maintain moderate alcohol levels. In 2018, the highest alcohol 13.2% and everything else between 12.5%-13.0%. Every cuvée is 100% whole bunch, using natural yeasts with no SO2 and up to 30% new oak for the Grands Crus. From picking to press was very quick, around 11 days, the shortest 8 days. I will bottle next Spring as the 2018s deserve a second winter in barrel." Readers will also notice the inclusion of a new négociant line under Charles Lachaux's own name. He emphasized that this project has no involvement of his parents, although his wife has designed the label that is intentionally very different from the domaine's own labels. "All négoçiant wines are picked by my own team, racked and bottled in July. They are all 100% whole cluster and use natural yeast, but unlike the domaine there is no new oak."