I particularly appreciated some bottles of Lachaux that I’ve tasted. The change in agronomic practices and the use of whole-cluster fermentation undoubtedly make them wines of great quality. Leaving aside the dynamics of distribution and pricing, which I consider to be a reflection of the times. With the 2022 vintage, Lachaux stops using wood as a vessel for aging and moves to ceramic instead. Has anyone tasted the wines? What do you think?
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I have not tried that producer’s wines ever.
But my limited experience with CA producers who use ceramics for elevage is that the wines are tighter and take longer to open/develop.
My 2 cents at a time when pennies are going out of style.
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There’s lots of guys using ceramic these days. It’s interesting but nothing more.
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In no way is his release pricing a reflection of the times. He’s alienated many collectors with his release pricing and his secondary prices have collapsed just like Groffiers. He maybe a talented wine maker but collectors are not fools
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Not a reflection of times - but slight arrogance.
They got rid of father Pascal (no idea why), Charles made everything “different” and raised the prices astronomically, at the same time offending clients with ridiculously cut offers at high prices.
I’ve tasted most vintages up to 2014/15 (which I liked), but only a few wines 2017 to 2020.
They are quite different, certainly good, but imho on the lean/bare side - and never mind-blowing or with any wow-effect (granted, no recent Grand Cru or Reignots/Suchots tasted).
At these prices it’s finished for me, ceramic or not.
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Release prices and its commercial policy are definitely a sign of the times. Where the human value of relationships built over time is swept away by the opportunity to make money and by greed. Does that sound familiar?
That’s why I wrote in my first message: “setting aside the pricing dynamics and its distribution policy.” I’m simply interested in how its wines turn out when aged in ceramic. I’ve tasted other varietals, but never a Pinot Noir aged in ceramic.
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A lot of people are making wine in ceramic, including pousse d’or. Frederic Cossard has been doing it for many years.
Honestly I’ve found the Arnoux-Lachaux wines to be a signifcant step down from the earlier wines, especially in their most prized plots of Suchots. RSV has also been worse than those wines made by Pascal, to my palate.
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In my limited experience they are incomparably better than the heavy and overwrought wines of the previous regime, though the entrance fee is absurd.
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I think those wines just need a lot of time to fully integrate. The 2001 and 2006 Arnoux-Lachaux Suchots were fantastic recently. I had the 17 and 21 suchots recently and they were… far from transcendent.
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The few wines I’ve had that were aged in ceramic were pretty disappointing, with the caveat that they weren’t burgundy. But my skepticism is tempered by my awareness that in the grand scheme I don’t know shit about shit. I’ll happily give post-2022 A-L a shot, if I can ever get them…
It’s apparent the Leroy influence is in both the vineyards and in the market which is a bummer. I recently got a bottle of 2020 A-L Suchots for what in comparison was a pretty good price, sourced from a restaurant that closed. We’ll see if people pay it, but the pre-arrival prices on W-S for the 2019 Suchots are north of $5k a bottle. If that’s the norm going forward I doubt I’ll ever taste future bottles.
Pretty interested to see how all this develops and if his gambles pay off. At heart I’m a romantic who loves great stories of slowly evolving tradition but it’s hard for me not to admire someone who’s willing to do radical change in pursuit of a vision, regardless if I agree with that vision or not.
I had a bottle of 22 Charles Lachaux Bourgogne two weeks ago and it was crazy good; it was super bright with some obvious whole cluster. I really liked the style. I can’t compare the 2 since I have never had pre 22 AL, although I have a 16 chaumes in the cellar. I’ll keep my eyes out for these on lists at decent prices; this wine paired really well with food.
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I really liked the wines from the new regime, actually more than those of the father, which had a very different profile. We’ll see what expression they will show once they are mature.
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That’s great, you should buy them then. I liked selling all of my Arnoux-Lachaux for 3-5x what I paid for it.
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Be fun to have Chris Mazepink weigh in on this from White Walnut, or @Kevin_Peterson on Chris’s behalf. They do a ceramic v wood pinot from the same parcels. I preferred the mouthfeel and character of the wood, but the aromatics from the ceramic were crazy expressive. Like billowing out of the glass. To another poster’s note re structure, I was surprised that the amphora wine seemed to show more structure and tannic presence. I expected less given lack of extraction of tannins from wood. My general impressions from tasting the two side by side last August:
We only tasted two pinot noirs, the 2023 White Walnut Vineyard and the 2023 White Walnut Vineyard Amphora. In essence, just about the same wines but vinified differently. Having these wines side by side was really interesting, and I could smell the amphora wine from my seat immediately after it was poured. It had this big chewy fruit note (like the red gummy bear note I mentioned earlier) that was just flowing out of glass. It was also texturally different, showing more of a chewy note that was akin to tannin and probably was but presented a little differently. The pinot vinified in barrels was, in my opinion, showing much better and was a joy to drink. These wines are not as crisp and acid driven as the chards. They’re more fruit focused but are still serious and structured. Interesting stuff. Again, a high quality product and fun to try side by side.
Actually the direct price from the domaine of RSV ‘19 was around 625€. Retail probably 3 times more. Which was already pretty expensive. 5k$ is insane.
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lowest worldwide price atm is 5600. It’s stupidity. The wine isn’t as good as confuron’s RSV.
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I did indeed. 3-5 times more is a little steep 
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prices came down a bit since then, but are still pretty high.
Definitely agree. Not worth it at that price
Thank you for the point of view Calvin!