2006 Domaine Arlaud Père & Fils Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

As usual, the Arlauds' 2006 Clos St.-Denis is an impressive bottling, and unfortunately represents only three barrels. Aromatically-penetrating and liqueur-like intensity and viscosity of black raspberry fruit are invigoratingly laced with hints of salt and chalk. A stony undertone helps the sweetness of fruit stand out, and this finishes with purity, lift, and transparency to lip-smacking mineral nuances. 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