Tasting Notes
Vinous 91
Bright, full red. Expressive aromas of cassis and violet; a bit more open at this stage than some recent vintages of this wine. Juicy, sweet and light on its feet, with peppery but ripe acidity giving definition and lift to the dark berry flavors. Finishes firmly tannic and long, with a whiplash of perfume. This has turned out very well. Lachaux is now using cover crop in these vines, which he says has cut vine yields, "de-compacted" the soil and helped to protect against rot.
Robert Parker 90
Blackberry and smoky-sweet hints of machine oil and steel shavings in the nose of Lachaux’s 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Proces put me in mind a bit of a concentrated Loire Cabernet Franc. Alkaline and piquantly fruit pit notes lend austerity to the firm palate but some of the same salinity that lent the corresponding Les Poisets a certain enticement is evidenced here as well. Here, too, the tannins are formidable but fine, and there is an impressive, vintage-typical sense of transparency to mineral characteristics in this Pinot’s implacable finish. Like a less-rich version of a 2005, this is another Arnoux 2008 to cellar for a few years if you are up to a challenge, and one that I predict will pay maximum dividends at something like 6-8 years’ age.
Anticipated maturity: 2010-2018
