2021 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru

Last year, a miscommunication meant that I missed my annual tasting at Domaine de l’Arlot. Thankfully, head winemaker Géraldine Godot welcomes me back.

“Widespread frost mostly affected the Chardonnay. Even though we lost 65% of the Chardonnay (15 barrels), the reds are a normal crop depending on the appellation. We didn’t use candles. Being organic in the vineyard, we frequently sprayed when necessary. We began the picking on 20 September and finished 24 September with some triage. Because of the [lack of] maturity of the stems, there are no whole bunches in 2021 and no pigeage - only pumping over. I didn’t use whole clusters in 2022 and maybe that will be our new approach in light of climate change as its affects sugar/acidity. The vineyards are adapting to climate change, so we must try something else to maintain freshness.”

“The quality is surprising. For Pinot Noir, there is not a lot of tannin or colour, though the former is velvety, not dissimilar to 2017 in terms of expression. It is not a vintage with a lot of exuberance compared to 2020, and the level of alcohol is normal. The wines have great balance [Godot tells me they chaptalized up to one degree up to a maximum of 13.0%.) Even if the season is awful with the frost, rain and rot, we forget that when we taste the wines because they have such purity. I thought it would be worse.”

This is a slightly curtailed set of wines because of the growing season and the retirement of one cuvée. “There will be no Nuits Saint-Georges La Gerbotte in 2021 or the future as the vines are not as young, over 30 years old, so the fruit will be blended into the Clos de l’Arlot” Godot explains.