Lovely Burgundy

Ladys and gentlemen,

I really think that I fall in love this week! 

Let me introduce you to my new favorite : The Estate Arnoux-Lachaux. 

I went in Burgundy this week to meet Pascal Lachaux's son, Charles Lachaux, the future wine growner of the estate in exclusivity to learn more about his wonderful production and his feeling about the global wine industry. Let's discover the summary of our delightful meeting :

Hi Charles ! Thank you to receive me for "the reasonwine blog" and all our followers. So firstly, can you please describe your domain's history, products? 

 

- The estate Arnoux-Lachaux now exists since 1858, I am the 6th generation to work on it. It has always been located at the same place in the village of Vosne Romanée, in Burgundy. We produce red wine, hundred percent made from Pinot Noir, there is no blend with any other grape variety. This is taking place on 15 hectares, which are representing 15 appellations from generic appellation to grand cru. The vineyards are located on Nuits Saint Georges, Vosne Romanée, Chambolle Musigny, Vougeot and 

Gevrey Chambertin.

And what about you Charles ? What is your role in the development of the estate?

- Actually my job is like if I would have several: I'm working in the vineyards, in the cellar, at the winery (Chai), in the office, I also host the customers for a tasting and finally, a few business trips to see our customers our the countries we are selling to. What we have to remind in Burgundy is that we don't own anything, we borrow the land to our children.

Is it difficult to work with your parents? 
 
 
 - For the moment there is no difficulty to work with them, my father is in charge of all the technical aspect, we don't have any "Maître de Chai" or "Chef de culture". This while my mother is taking care of all he administrative aspect. I have plenty to learn from them so I hope this good ambiance will last for a long time.

Through what means do you sell your wines? Direct sales? Exporting?

- Nowadays, the estate sells 60% of its production abroad, and the 40% are made in France between the Hotels, Restaurant, Wine shops and private customers. To sell abroad, we have the chance that we are not looking for customers they ask us if they can have some wine, and that is a nice luck. We are selling in many countries with the classic markets like U.K, Asia, U.S.A but a lot of small markets which are very interesting like Israël, Maldivia, Brasil, Russia... it works in the same way in France, the people are coming to have some wine, our biggest market is the gastronomic restauration. With some famous names like ritz, Meurice, Georges V, Tour d'Argent, Robuchon, Veyrat...

What makes the difference between your domain/wine and that of your closest competitors ?

- What makes the difference here in burgundy is mostly the way your cultivate your vines. For example Vosne Romanée is about 250 Hectares and we are about 30 different people to make wine on this appellation. So there is not really a competition beacuse Vosne Romanée is a very wanted wine and there is not enough, so after the difference is made by the consumer taste. Do they prefer, more extracted wines, more oaky, more fruity...

I'm interested in knowing what you think about the current speculation concerning fine wines from Bordeaux and Bourgogne ? 

 

- Burgundy is not very concerned by this speculation compare to Bordeaux so we are quite lucky for the moment.  The problem is that the Bordeaux wines concerned are not enough consumed, they are kept for speculation. So what's gonna happen the day those people are going to sell their wines because their are getting fond of something else ? We can see it starting with our customers they tell us that they stopped buying bordeaux now after 10 or 20 years of regular consumption. So I think this is a scary and dangerous game !

I remember that you said you had travelled a lot. Can you tell us a little more about your travels? What was your favorite destination ?

 

- I've travelled for a few years after my High National Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology. I've been to New Zealand (2 months), To Oregon in the United States twice (3 months & 5 months), worked for Domaine Tollot-Beaut in Burgundy (5 months), been to South Africa (3 months), Bordeaux (6 months), London ( 6 months) and a last internship at Domaine Armand Rousseau in Burgundy for the 2011 vintage. There is not really a favorite every single trip has been done with the aim to improve my knowledge in the Wine World and be more confident. You open your mind when you travel and your learn new languages, you discover new cultures, meet new people... So I can have prefered a country for work, but another one for the people I met, another one for the landscapes. That's why it is hard to tell about a favorite one


 To conclude Charles, what shall I wish for your future? ou simon, What should we expect from you in the future?

- You can wish me good vintages to come. I don't really know what you can expect but I wish that we will still be able to produce the wines we like and we what in the best conditions possible.

To conclude, thank you Charles and I wish a long life to the Estate Arnoux-Lachaux and its amazing wines ! 

Sarah Clavier