Arlaud's 2006 Morey-St.-Denis Les Chezeaux – part of which grew in the western panhandle of this cru that extends between Morey Aux Charmes and Mazoyeres-Chambertin – displays peat, resin, and bitter-sweet herbs on the nose; comes to the palate with admirable concentration, but lacking the sweetness of fruit or textural refinement of the corresponding Millandes; and finishes with tart hints of black fruit accompanied by alkaline, herbal, and cyanic fruit pit bitterness. A stony undertone pulls this further in an austere direction atypical for this estate, but perhaps this was also in a cantankerous mood on the day I tasted it. Still, if I were convinced to acquire some, I would plan on giving it a few years in bottle.
Cyprien Arlaud – for more about whose very much family domaine and its recent progress and expansion, consult my report in issue 170 – harvested from September 23 through October 3, ending up with around a quarter less production than in 2005, and wines on which he reports having held back comparatively on fermentative extraction. The relatively low pH levels enhanced stability, says Arlaud, and they certainly help account for the tart edges and vivacity of the fruit character in so many of his wines. Save for the large volume of Bourgogne (bottled in January, 2008), all of the Arlaud 2006s were bottled in December, 2007, and Cyprien Arlaud is hypothesizing in retrospect that perhaps this has temporarily stunted certain wines whose bottlings might better have been postponed. (Note, though, that the wines are neither pumped nor filtered here now.) This explains the number of plus signs and question marks I employed in an attempt to offer shorthand accounts of my reactions, in many cases to hints of reduction, tightness, or tannic perturbation.
A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93
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