the very green red from Nuits Saint George

Nuits Saint George 1er cru-Clos De L'Arlot, Domaine De L'Arlot 2011  $69.50 CHF


Today I am tasting a very young pinot noir from the domaine De L'Arlot. Right off the bat as I took my first wiff I could smell the very obvious green floral notes of this wine. My hunch was that the wine was fermented with the stems in the vat which is a style regaining popularity over the past several years in Burgundy. After a bit of research it turns out the domain in fact ferment with varying amounts of stems depending on the season. I learned that stems can provide tanins in seasons were there is litle concentration in the grapes. I don't know whether or not the 2011 vintage was lacking tanins but the use of the stems seemed liberal indeed but perhaps its just the style of the domaine.

Back to the nose! These floral notes completely dominated the nose in my opinion smelling very stalky almost like sage. I think my reaction to this new aroma comes from a bit of inexperiance as I dont think I have had any burgundy red with the stems left in the vat. Aside from the floral component I have tried quite a few wines from Nuits Saint George and have come to expect the rich strawberry perfume omnipresent in this wine. I opened this bottle a few days ago and I have to admit tasting and smelling it now the initial stalky, even dank smell, has softened into a more refined yet rustic floral note.

When I first tasted this wine I really felt as if I was tasting a wine in its infancy as it is very young and has quite a firm structure which im sure would soften well in the cellar. This wine gave quite the kick compared to the more subdued Nuits Saint George wines I have had before. The acidity was quite high but complimented the dark berry fruits so closely associated with this regions wine. That green monster was still very present but was more chilled out very rastafarian if ya know what I mean. When tasted a few days later the wine had settled down and the floral aspect was more subtle and allowed the other parts of the wine to shine through.

I think I've grown quite fond of this style of wine in the end and it has left me with the desire to not only seek out the domaines wine in other vintages but also experiment with a little decanting as well ;)

I do all my tasting with Peugeot's "les Impitoyables" glass designed for young reds. The glass really accentuates the nose which gives it its name meaning "the unforgiving"

 I also apologize if my spelling is a bit off as my google settings are in some ways english and others german... cheers everyone have a wonderful evening.