2008 Latricieres Chambertin

From a little over one acre of 52 year-old vines that Lachaux just acquired in a swap with long-time ex-pat vigneron Christopher Newman, the Arnoux 2008 Latricieres-Chambertin leads with scents of pungently smoky peat, mouth-watering soy, and concentrated red fruits, all of which then inform a palate of redoubtable density and tanninity. There is a certain somber impressiveness here even if little enticement or charm and to call the finish palate-staining is understatement. It’s an expensive ticket and an inaugural ride, but if you hang on for 6-8 years you might well be rewarded with a memorable experience, though one will want to consider this Pinot’s brooding personality in choosing what sort of animal sacrifice to make on its behalf. I tasted Pascal Lachaux’s 2008s soon after their late-January bottling, and a few of them may have been suffering from trauma they thereby sustained, but on the whole this was an impressive if darkly-hued and unapologetically firmly-structured collection. Lachaux reports that his malos were “on time, normal,” and adds “the truth about 2008 and why the malos were so often retarded is that people sulfured the fruit too heavily at the advice of their enologues.” Even at bottling, Lachaux reports that he was sparing with sulfur and expected to take advantage of the high levels of residual CO2 in his 2008s. He says he allowed temperatures to rise during the fermentation as a means of extracting more flavor without having to actively work the cap and in consequence risk pulling out green flavors or hard tannins. This approach may explain the particularly low-toned personality of this 2008 collection, which certainly didn’t leave me wishing that the wines had sustained additional pigeage! If the number of magnums I saw is any indication, Lachaux seriously intends on putting to the test his confidence in this vintage’s aging potential. Yet he is also very keen on his 2007s, those of which I tasted from bottle were indeed impressive, though I seem even in this instance to be missing what those growers most enamored of their 2007s profess to perceive. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990