I don’t want to ‘regard a cadeau cheval in the bouche’ but when we arrive at a Domaine we get a little concerned as to who we may get paired with sometimes for the visit. Often its just us and the visit can be paced and pitched appropriately, today we waited at Domaine L’Arlot as the rest of our group joined us for a tour and tasting. To our absolute horror it was a group of students from the south of France on a trip ‘learning to taste’.
There were 25 eager beavers scribbling down every snippet of information in their notebooks as we worked through an introduction to the Domaine, its vineyards and surrounds. We eventually made it down to the cellar where the students started to ‘learn how to taste’ with a good selection of mainly 08’s from L’Arlot and Heidi and I hung out at the extremities like a spare dick at an orgy.
2010 Côte de Nuits-Villages ‘Clos du Chapeau’ : Spicy with nice red fruits and a little earth. It is relatively simple and has some minerality on the finish.
2009 Vosne-Romanée: Really quite lovely, there’s a gentle spice of ginger and cardamom on the nose. It has warm red berry fruits in the mouth with spices that carry on from the aroma through the palate. There’s good precision and energy.
At this stage one of the students, who was very ‘goth’ in her appearance, started to blow her nose quite vigorously. She had the sort of nasal cold where she needn’t apply eye shadow as part of her morning ‘goth’ transformation. I’m sure she’d be a fan of Robert Smith (lead singer of The Cure and ultimate goth) and I wanted to start a conversation with her about one of my very favourite bands of the 80’s. I bet she ‘wish she stayed, asleep today’, I also wish she wasn’t so ‘close to me’.
2008 Nuits-St-Georges ‘Petit l’Arlot’ : Raspberry and cherry fruits are front and centre. There’s some Nuits grip under the pretty red things and tannins are a little furry on the finish.
2008 Nuits-St-Georges ‘Clos de l’Arlot’ 1er Cru : There’s the Domaine’s typical smoky, floral, sappy lift here and fruits that are red and black. In the mouth the fruits have a jube like quality and there are plenty of earthy things bouncing around. It is sappy, finishing with good drive and energy.
2008 Vosne-Romanée ‘Les Suchots’ 1er Cru: A little reduced on the nose, with an aroma of smoky minerals, red currants and cherry. Delicate, fine and lacy in the mouth with strong minerality. It is quite tight and closed but possesses good precision and cut to the finish.
2008 Nuits-St-Georges ‘Petit Plets’: Bright red fruits with some dried flowers on the nose. The fruit initially hits the mouth with fullness and generosity but are quickly reigned in by the wines structure. It is a little raw.
2008 Nuits-St-Georges- ‘Clos des Forêts St-Georges’: Sweet, smoky, floral, sappy perfume that is quite engaging. It is generous with plenty of sweet berry fruits laced with some fresh roses and licorice. It is complex with good intensity and a long earthy finish.
2007 Nuits-St-Georges- ‘Clos des Forêts St-Georges’: This was served as a blind option and we were looking towards a more ripe and forward vintage. The nose is ripe and sweet with fruits that have a jube like quality. There’s a little sap and plenty of flora. It looks just like the 2000 did 7 years ago and has a touch of quinine bitterness to the finish.
2004 Nuits-St-Georges- ‘Clos des Forêts St-Georges’: Also an option and after the students all yelled out their guesses I said ‘C’est 2004’ and indeed it was. It had the telltale greener notes of the vintage. It has some sweet fruits with plenty of mineral and is drinking nicely now.
2008 Nuits-St-Georges ‘Cuvée Gerbottes’ Blanc: Candied pear, honey and apricot notes on both nose and palate. It is exotic, fat and round with a hint of sherbet freshening the finish.
2008 Nuits-St-Georges ‘Clos de l’Arlot’ 1er Cru Blanc : Ripe orchard fruits are cut with minerally acidity. Relatively simple but very tasty.
Cheers
Jeremy