Domaine de l’Arlot Tasting with Geraldine Godot
A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a very special tasting and lunch held at Cabotte restaurant. Geraldine Godot, Technical Director and Winemaker at Domaine de l’Arlot, along with Managing Director, Christian Seely, presented her wines for the first time to the UK press, taking us through five years of wines she has made from Clos de l’Arlot, Clos des Forets Saint Georges, Vosne Romanée les Suchots and Romanée Saint Vivant.
This 14 hectare estate is located 2 kilometres to the south of Nuits Saint Georges, at the commune of Premeaux-Prissey. This is where some of the most elegant Pinot Noirs of Burgundy are found, getting finer and finer towards the Vosne-Romanée part of the village. For any Burgundy fan (or wine fan in general!), this really was a dream tasting.
The differences in terroir
Geraldine structured the tasting so that we went to Vosne after Nuits Saint Georges, then back to Nuits Saint Georges and finishing with Vosne, to appreciate the difference in terroir. The variation in taste and style between the vineyards was remarkable. For example, the limestone soil of Les Suchots gave the wines more of a pronounced minerality than the wines from Clos de l’Arlot Monopole, and there was a definite black cherry note, compared with the red fruit notes (wild strawberry and raspberry) of Clos de l’Arlot. The wines from Clos des Forêts Saint Georges Monopole were markedly bold and spicy, whereas the Romanée Saint Vivant Grand Cru wines, from their sunny plot and clay and limestone soils, were softer and finer, with a striking thread of florality woven through them. I could taste the rose so distinctly in the 2017. I implore any terroir cynic to head to this part of Burgundy!
Perfect Pinot Noir
To be able to taste the wines vertically from 2015 through to 2019 was to experience the highs and the lows of each growing season, which Geraldine lived through. The frost of 2016; the heatwaves in 2019. The 2017 wines stood out across the plots as beautifully expressive and balanced, with precise persistence. Geraldine tells us that, climatically, it was a normal year: “Sometimes it’s nice to have normal things after things that are not normal. You are reminded that this is Pinot Noir.” Perfect Pinot Noir.
Higher planes
Over the past five years, Geraldine can be credited with bringing a sense of serenity to the domaine and the approach to work is calm and reflective.
“We take time to observe, to see whether an operation is necessary,” Geraldine tells us. “We take time to taste.”
“Geraldine has taken Arlot to higher planes,” says Christian. “What she’s brought to Arlot is a precision and faithfulness, which allows each wine to express a sense of place.”
Domaine de l’Arlot tasting at Cabotte
Wines tasted:
White
Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Le Mont
Côtes de Nuits Villages Au Leurey
Nuits Saint Georges, La Gerbotte
Nuits Saint Georges 1er cru, Clos de l’Arlot Monopole
Red
Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Le Mont
Côtes de Nuits Villages, Clos du Chapeau
Nuits Saint Georges 1er cru, Cuvée Mont des Oiseaux
Nuits Saint Georges 1er cru, Clos de l’Arlot Monopole (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Nuits Saint Georges 1er cru, Clos des Forêts Saint Georges Monopole (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Vosne Romanée 1er cru, Les Suchots (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Romanée Saint Vivant Grand Cru (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
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