2013 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru

The crop level was tiny here in 2013 owing to a difficult flowering, mildew issues and the late-July hailstorm. This was the last vintage made by Jacques Devauges (Geraldine Godot took over winemaking duties with the 2014 harvest and bottled the 2013s last February and April). Devauges vinified the estate's old vines with 50% to 60% whole clusters but destemmed the fruit from younger vines. The wines were quite tight when I first sampled them from barrel in November of 2014 but have turned out very well. With their inner-mouth tension in the early going, some of these wines will probably be best suited for drinking after the estate’s 2014s.

Technical director Jacques Devauges, who only took over here just prior to the 2011 harvest, recently accepted an offer he couldn't refuse to become the winemaker for the Domaine du Clos de Tart. He will offically start there in the spring, with the retiring Sylvain Pitiot staying on in a consulting capacity for a while. New Domaine de l'Arlot winemaker Geraldine Godot vinified the 2014s with Devauges and has her work cut out for her if she's to match what Devauges accomplished here during his short stay. The estate harvested in 2013 between October 2 and 10, the latest since 1984, eliminating more botrytized than underripe grapes. The cold, humid winter and spring, a couple of very cool mornings in late May, serious problems with coulure and mildew, and the hailstorm of July 23 resulted in a very small crop (averaging 20 hectoliters per hectare) and a collection of brisk, intense wines that Devauges told me are evolving like the 2010s. Devauges vinified the estate's old vines with 50% to 60% whole clusters but destemmed the fruit from younger vines almost entirely.