Domaine de l'Arlot Nuits-St-Georges Clos des Forets St Georges Premier Cru Monopole 2021
- Vinous
-
James
Suckling -
Jasper
Morris
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
With its well-defined character, this wine perfectly illustrates the identity of the Nuits Saint Georges vineyard. Complex aromas of blackcurrant mingled with spicy blackberry are revealed on the nose with, depending on the vintage, darker notes of licorice, leather and blood orange. The well-built mouth affirms itself with density and strength around a tight structure with rich, well-wrapped tannins. It becomes increasingly seductive over time, which comes from the elegance, intensity and purity of the fruit.
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2021 Nuits Saint-Georges Clos des Forêts Saint Georges 1er Cru is more expressive than the Clos de l'Arlot on the nose: vivid scents of raspberry, cranberry, sous-bois and just a very slight steeliness. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, almost angular tannins, fresh and very tensile, quite saline to the extent where I fully agree that any stem addition would have been superfluous. Persistent and graceful on the finish, this is superb.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
James Suckling
Complex nose of red berries, savory and wet earth with just a hint of candied citrus peel. Quite a bold and seriously structured wine with excellent depth for the challenging vintage, but nothing even remotely approaching a hard edge. This will need some time to give its best, but the balance is there at the simultaneously crisp and velvety finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Best from 2025.
-
Jasper Morris
Dense red to crimson. The bouquet is a little more closed than Les Suchots, but with a suggestion of a fair intensity of fruit to follow. Prettily floral, cherry and raspberry too, this is rather stylish, still with a little biscuit note from the barrel, like many of these wines in their youth. Without being in the style of the blockbuster vintages, there is still good energy here for the future. Drink from 2027-2033.
Barrel Sample: 91-94
Other Vintages
2020-
Jasper
Morris
-
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker - Decanter
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
Domaine de L'Arlot is one of the seminal properties in Nuits St. Georges. The domaine was co-owned by Jean-Pierre de Smet, who spent eight years alongside Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac before taking over L’Arlot in 1986. Today, the domaine consists of 14 hectares planted to mostly Pinot Noir, with 5% devoted to Chardonnay for their ultra-rare white wines. The oldest vines are 70+ years old, with the average age close to 50. While the estate’s core is in the monopoles of Clos des Forêts Saint Georges and Clos de l’Arlot, the domaine also consists of two parcels in the village of Vosne-Romanée that were added in 1991. The first is a plot in the Grand Cru Romanée Saint-Vivant that sits in the corner of the appellation, spilling into La Tâche on one side and Romanée-Conti on the other. The second is a prime parcel of Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots that sits on the border of Romanée Saint-Vivant. The addition of these incredibly placed sites only served to further cement the iconic status of the domaine.
In 2015 the very talented Geraldine Godot took over the domaine. While retaining the core values of l’Arlot, including biodynamic farming, Geraldine has brought her own style to this historic estate, with extraction kept to a minimum, and the wines seeing less new oak than in the past. All of this is done to preserve the gorgeous fruit from their cherished vineyards. With Geraldine’s inspired leadership, Domaine de l’Arlot is committed to maintaining their classic, elegant style of terroir driven wines in hopes of providing the sort of divine pleasure only classic Burgundy delivers.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Inhabiting the bottom end of the northern half of the Côte d’Or, Nuits-St-Georges is a busy, market-driven town and home to many of Burgundy’s negociants. It is also the largest town in the Côte d’Or after Beaune and contributes "nuits" to the name of Côte de Nuits (i.e., the northern half of the Côte d’Or).
The appellation itself is divided into two parts, where in the north it directly borders Vosne-Romanée, the southerly end is the commune of Prémeaux. There are no Grands Crus in this village, though it does have a large number of Premiers Crus.
The best Nuits-St-Georges Pinot Noir are layered with cherry, plum, underbrush and sandalwood. The fruit is sweet, the wine energetic, and the finish long and lush.