Cyprien Arlaud has the natural confidence of a man at the top of his game. He has been making the wines at Domaine Arlaud since 2001 and, as he sees it, he is now reaping the benefits of his early switch to organics, followed swiftly by biodynamics. He also puts in prodigious amounts of work in the vineyard, and the domaine employs considerably more vineyard workers than any of the near neighbours.
On the red winemaking debate that divides modern Burgundy – whole bunch or de-stem – Cyprien comes down firmly on the side of an element of whole bunch. As Cyprien sees it, the addition of an element of whole bunch adds finesse and freshness to the wines when they are young, and (even) more complexity as they age.
His Bourgogne Rouge plot ‘Roncevie’ used to be classified as village Gevrey – until it was bought by this interloper from faraway Morey-St-Denis. Local politics intervened, and it was downgraded. That, however, makes it one of the best values in the region. (NT 07/08/23)
