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2004 Arnoux Romanee St Vivant

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Year: 2004 Appellation: Romanee St Vivant Country: France International Wine Cellar: 92-95 Burghound Rating: 93-96	$329.99
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Burghound Producer note: As I commented in Issue 17, Pascal Lachaux is on a roll and his 2004s are first rate in the context of the vintage, indeed his performance is arguably among the very best period in 2004. Lachaux commented that "2004 is a vintage of the vigneron (where viticulture was more important than winemaking). You basically had to live in the vineyard because if you didn't, there was sure to be oidium, mildew or other problems with the weather conditions that we had. We normally treat 7 to a maximum of 8 times but in 2004, I treated 13 times! Worse, in August it was quite wet which means the vineyards were muddy which means that not only were your treatments less effective (rain washes off the sulfur) but you couldn't get in with your tractor to treat again. We had some hail in Vosne but between Prémeaux and Nuits proper, the vintage was near perfect. We obtained excellent sugars at around 13% and with less than .5% chaptalization, the average wine wound up at 13.3%. I vinified as I usually do though because the seeds were not ripe, I used a special device to remove them and I think this contributed greatly to the more refined tannins we were able to extract. There was a lot of malic acid and thus malos were slow. There were a lot of fine lees, which I left in suspension to dry and add fat and glycerin to the wines. In my view, 2004 is superior to both 2000 and 2001 and they will age well." The wines will be bottled without fining or filtration as usual in January and February. As I noted above, the Arnoux '04s are sensational and while many producers made solid wines from their upper level appellations, Lachaux managed to do it with his villages wines as well plus the Bourgogne is no slouch.

Tasting note: This displays a similar kaleidoscopic nose to that of the Suchots but with even more spice and hard as it is to believe, even more refinement and the aromas just ooze class. The ultra pure, sweet, precise and beautifully detailed flavors maintain their focus from start to the dazzlingly long and palate staining finish. Despite the expressiveness, there is an underlying reserve here which suggests that even better things are to come with bottle age. One of the wines of the vintage and if you like RSV, don't miss this one. - Burghound 93-96