SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch appreciates the crunch, savor, and varietal purity of this Bourgogne Pinot Noir, which demonstrates, among other things, how clean and polished a ‘natural’ wine can be.
To read about ‘natural wine’ in most magazines is to hear of a winemaking ‘movement’ that has either zealous adherents or jaded detractors. What about the thick, chewy center? That’s where I choose to be: I bristle at some of the righteous, revolutionary posturing around natural wine, but neither is it possible to view natural wine as something you’re either “for” or “against.” How can you be ‘against’ something as noble-minded as organic farming? At the same time, how can you be ‘for’ a wine which, however naturally farmed, is clearly flawed? Many natural wine producers, in their zeal to let their vineyards speak the loudest, take ‘minimal intervention’ to the occasional extreme. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of sulfur: Sometimes the reduction and/or elimination of this compound can have debilitating effects on the wine, allowing bacterial infections and other flaws to create off flavors and aromas (which some of the most dedicated Naturalistas gleefully overlook). This wine from Domaine Arlaud is not only a model of naturally farmed Burgundy but a wine of exceptional cleanliness, purity, and polish. It doesn’t immediately strike you as a “natural wine,” if only because the category has become too broadly (and lazily) defined by is funkiest, most extreme examples. In fact, this 2015 Bourgogne Rouge from Arlaud is a perfect example of natural wine done right—what you taste is perfectly ripe, perfectly healthy fruit that is handled with extreme care and presented unadorned. I’m all for that, especially at this price!
What got me on this natural wine jag was the vibrant energy, bing cherry crunch, and mineral backbone of this wine. When Burgundy Pinot Noir is “on” like this it seems to glow from within, and as we’ve seen across the board, 2015 was an especially good vintage for ‘lower-tier’ red Burgundies like this. Whereas in other years this may have been a more tart, austere wine, in 2015 it is decidedly juicy without losing its grip. No other Pinot Noir in the world presents this much earthy savor in counterbalance to its fruit sweetness. If blind-tasting this wine, you couldn’t possibly think it from anywhere else in the world but Burgundy.
The Arlaud domaine, based in the Côte de Nuits village of Morey-Saint-Denis, has farmed its 37 acres of vineyards organically since 2004. This Bourgogne Rouge is sourced from old-vine parcels (average age: 40 years) in neighboring Vosne-Romanée, as well as from higher-elevation sites carrying the “Hautes-Côtes” (“upper slopes”) designation. The wine takes its name, “Oka,” from the plow horse the family employs to till its vineyards, and it is fermented on indigenous yeasts in concrete tanks. It is aged in used French oak barrels before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The 2015 “Oka” has a deep ruby color with magenta highlights at the rim, a common trait of wines from 2015, and the aromas are a beautifully pure, perfumed evocation of perfectly ripe fruit: black cherry, pomegranate and raspberry notes are interspersed with scents of violets, rose petals, crushed stone, black pepper, and turned earth. It is juicy but also mouthwatering, with bright acid and crisp tannins that jolt the palate awake like a live wire. It has good weight on the mid-palate and a floral finish, and enough structure that its best years are still ahead of it—with a few years in the cellar, this is going to evolve into a very serious red Burgundy. If you’re having one now, decant it about 45 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems. It has a woodsy, slightly rustic component that makes your mouth water and crave food; serve this with a porchetta-inspired roast pork as in the attached recipe, and consider this as a ‘house’ wine that promises to evolve nicely for years to come. Bourgogne Rouge doesn’t typically deliver like this, but when it does, it’s awfully tough to beat. Cheers!
— D.L.
