Domaine Arnoux Beaune 1er Cru En Genêt 2019

Intense, brilliant color. Rich, distinct aromas of black cherries and blueberries… The wine is still a bit closed, but concentrated, dense, and well-balanced. Great potential!

The estate has twenty-two hectares of vineyards, including eight hectares of red Chorey and one hectare of white Chorey, with the remainder spread across Savigny, Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, and Pernand-Vergelesses. The entire harvest is bottled. Pascal Arnoux and his wife Caroline are now assisted by their son Jean-Baptiste with winemaking and vineyard work, and by their daughter Audrey with marketing and communications. Since 2014, the estate has had new temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks to better regulate fermentation temperatures. The soil is plowed, and the grapes are harvested by hand, with a sorting table upon arrival at the winery. The whites are vinified traditionally and then aged for ten months, with 10% new oak. The reds undergo a three-week maceration period followed by twelve months of aging (10% new oak for village appellations, 20% for premier crus). In some years, the quality of the grapes allows us to keep about 20% of the harvest as whole clusters; “We like a bit of ‘pinot-ness,’ balance is always important; we want to enhance aromatic complexity while maintaining depth—the tannins must support the wine.”

A wine that frequently appears in these pages, and the 2019 vintage is a real hit. An intense and open 1er cru that unfolds with rich aromas of blackberry, lilac, and vanilla. A supple attack leads into a full-bodied, dense, and long finish, supported by fine, silky tannins and centered on ripe red fruit. A wine built for aging.

Founded in 1950, this family-run estate, located in Chorey-lès-Beaune, has been led since 2008 by Pascal Arnoux, the third generation of the family to head the estate. The portfolio includes a wide range of Côte de Beaune wines (about twenty appellations spanning more than 20 hectares between Beaune and Corton), which are frequently featured in these pages.

Silky and beautifully balanced, it reveals flavors of violet, raspberry, cherry, and vanilla. Although sumptuous, this red is also lively and elegant. It becomes more structured on the finish, with a fruit- and spice-infused aftertaste.