2006 Nuits St Georges Les Proces

Full ruby-red. Aromas of black cherry, licorice, bitter chocolate, tobacco and smoky oak. Suave on entry, then silky and sweet in the middle but with more structure and power than the Poisets. A broad wine with substantial chewy depths. Finishes with ripe tannins and enticing sweetness.

Light nose. Very fresh and true. Very, very rich – arguably too much so – but well done. Tingly. (JR)

Arnoux 2006 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Proces – from a site located between Rue de Chaux and Les Pruliers – is redolent of boysenberry and cassis that follow in a positively palate-staining, liqueur-like, bittersweet performance assisted by some of the same chocolate and tobacco as well as slightly austere suggestion of stoniness that were displayed by the corresponding Les Poisets from well to its south. Here too, we have a darkly-impressive Nuits, though one that lacks the element of fresh fruit invigoration of the Les Poisets. But this palpably dense Pinot – which still preserves a welcome measure of lift – is surely going to be worth following for 6-8 years as well, if only it is given a few years' head start. ||Pascal Lachaux – who subscribes to the prevalent notion that this vintage reflects elements of 2000 and 2002 – is one of the very few red Burgundy growers (Rouget another) whose 2006s strike me as outclassing their 2005s. It's possible that his having had a prior vintage to become accustomed to the opportunities afforded by his spacious new, gravity flow cellar contributed to his success this year. And it's of course also possible that I have under- or over-rated one of these vintages. Lachaux – who defends 2005 as one of his best-ever collections – concurs in finding each 2006 typical for its site as well as more expressive than his 2005s have thus far been, and in the observation that these 2006s improve as they open to the air, suggesting to me considerable longer-term cellaring potential than one can expect from most wines of the vintage. Wine Advocate.December, 2009