2022 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots, Domaine de l'Arlot

The 2022 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru, matured in 40% new oak, is intense on the nose, opulent yet controlled with mainly red berry fruit, allspice and rose petal scents, just a hint of black olive emerging with time. Very well-defined. The medium-bodied palate comes armed with a voluptuous entry, almost viscous in texture, intense yet delineated with a gradual build to its sweet and detailed finish. This will require four to five years to open for business, but it is certainly a "serious" Les Suchots with a wonderful spicy edge.

The 2022 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru was picked on the final day of harvest with the Les Suchots. It matured in 40% new oak like the Premier Crus, two of the five barrels. It has a powerful bouquet like the aforementioned Premier Cru, with layers of ripe red fruit, violets and blood orange. There is some reduction here, but that will disappear by bottling. The palate is velvety smooth on the entry with impressive depth and gentle grip. It has enthralling purity of fruit, intense to the point where you can almost overlook the filigree tannins. It fans out beautifully on the lingering finish, a Romanée-Saint-Vivant to the top drawer.

A crimson to purple colour. The bouquet has refinement along with a sense of structure. The bouquet builds steadily to show a high-class red berry fruit, alpine strawberries. Very complete across the palate with an excellent tensile strength, and a very nicely constructed finish. Nothing too soft here. The strawberries return in full force after the refined tannins. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted: October 2023.

A fine full ruby to purple. The bouquet has, as it should have, noticeably more density than the Suchots. Still an absolute baby, the concentrated red fruit builds from a gentle start to suffuse the second half of the palate. Not over demonstrative, but I can see how this will continue to grow from here. This is currently sleeping but full of potential. Drink from 2032-2040. Tasted: October 2023.