Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru

When Cyprien Arlaud capped new oak at 30% even for Grands Crus, he inverted the prestige logic of the Côte de Nuits — where peers routinely deploy 50–100% new barrique to signal hierarchy. That decision is the lens through which Charmes-Chambertin reads: terroir first, oak as seasoning.

Domaine Arlaud has held simultaneous certified organic and biodynamic status since 2014, the first estate in Morey-Saint-Denis to do so, and the discipline extends from vine to bottle — Grand Cru parcels are ploughed by Auxois horse to preserve soil structure in the clay-limestone soils that define Charmes-Chambertin's southern flank of Gevrey-Chambertin.

That higher clay fraction retains moisture through warm seasons, moderating the heat stress that 2022 imposed across the Côte de Nuits. Vinification follows a gravity-flow, low-intervention protocol: cold pre-fermentation maceration, ~20-day spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, gentle remontage over pigeage, and selective whole-cluster inclusion up to 30% where stem ripeness permits.

Aging runs 14–16 months in French oak, up to 30% new, before unfined, unfiltered bottling by gravity according to the lunar cycle. The 2022 vintage delivered dense, dark-fruited character across the appellation — expect brooding depth and a structure that rewards patience well into the 2030s.