Critic tasting note: (2024 vintage)
"A fruity wine with good aromas of red fruit, rose petals, spices and a savory, mineral touch. Bright and juicy, with a medium body and fine tannins. Delicious, nimble and long. A light expression but authentically Burgundian and ethereal. Drink or hold." - James Suckling
Technical Details
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Producer: Domaine de l’Arlot, Prémeaux-Prissey, Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France
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Wine: Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots
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Appellation: Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru, Côte de Nuits
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Vintage: 2024
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Grape variety: 100% Pinot Noir
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Vineyard: Les Suchots
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Vineyard location: Vosne-Romanée, adjacent to Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Richebourg
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Vineyard classification: Premier Cru
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Vine age: Approximately 40 years
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Yield: 13 hectolitres per hectare
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Harvest: Manual
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Fermentation: Spontaneous, with indigenous yeasts
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Maceration: 15–20 days in stainless steel tanks
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Punchdowns: Daily remontage
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Destemming: 100%
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Ageing: 15 months in French oak barrels (228 L), 40% new
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Post-ageing: 1.5 months in tank
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Bottling date: 25 February 2026
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Alcohol: 12.5–13% depending on release
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Bottle size: 750 ml
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Closure: Natural cork
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Critic score: 92–94/100 — Neal Martin, Vinous
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Drinking window: 2027–2044, per Neal Martin
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Serving temperature: 15–17°C
The Producer
Domaine de l’Arlot is a respected estate based in Prémeaux-Prissey, near Nuits-Saint-Georges, with holdings across the Côte de Nuits. The domaine is known for organic farming, meticulous vineyard work and a refined, terroir-driven winemaking style.
Les Suchots is one of the domaine’s most prized Premier Cru bottlings, alongside its monopoles in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The wine reflects the estate’s commitment to precision, freshness and the expression of one of Vosne-Romanée’s great sites.
Vineyard and Terroir
Les Suchots lies in Vosne-Romanée, directly adjacent to the Grand Crus Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Richebourg. It is widely regarded as one of the finest Premier Crus in the village, combining the finesse of Vosne with a deeper, more structured profile.
The vineyard’s position and soil give the wine its hallmark balance: ripe red fruit, floral aromatics and a firm mineral backbone. Domaine de l’Arlot’s parcel is farmed organically, with yields kept exceptionally low at 13 hectolitres per hectare in 2024.
The 2024 Vintage
The 2024 Burgundy growing season was exceptionally difficult, with heavy rainfall, cool temperatures and widespread mildew pressure. Frost, hail and disease pressure made the growing season particularly challenging for Pinot Noir, and yields fell dramatically in the worst-affected parcels.
Despite these difficulties, careful fruit selection and meticulous vineyard work allowed Domaine de l’Arlot to retain the freshness, aromatic definition and fine tannic structure that define the vintage. The resulting reds are expected to be lighter in weight than riper recent years, but precise, energetic and highly transparent.
Winemaking and Ageing
The Pinot Noir is hand-harvested and fully destemmed. Fermentation is spontaneous, using indigenous yeasts, and takes place in stainless steel tanks over 15–20 days with daily remontage.
The wine is then aged for 15 months in French oak barrels of 228 litres, with 40% new oak. After barrel ageing, it spends a further 1.5 months in tank before bottling on 25 February 2026. This approach preserves the wine’s fruit purity, floral lift and mineral tension.
Tasting Profile
The 2024 Les Suchots opens with a charming nose of pure red fruit, subtly interwoven with crushed violet and iris flower, lifted by an elegant touch of white pepper. Neal Martin describes a lovely nose of pure dark berry fruit laced with pressed violet and iris flower, seemingly unperturbed by the traumatic growing season.
On the palate, the wine is supple and harmonious, with silky tannins and a texture that is both deep and delicately unctuous. The finish is long and airy, with a slight herbaceous note on the close that adds freshness and sapidity.
Aroma and flavour: red cherry, dark berry, raspberry, griotte cherry, blackcurrant, violet, iris flower, white pepper and subtle spice.
Palate: medium-bodied, supple and harmonious, with silky tannins, vibrant acidity, granitic minerality and a long, airy finish.
Style: a refined, age-worthy Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru—elegant and aromatic in youth, with the structure and mineral tension to develop over time.
Drinking Window
Neal Martin assigns an anticipated maturity window of 2027–2044, noting that the wine should age well in bottle. The 2024 vintage’s freshness and fine tannins give it the balance to develop gracefully over the long term.
For current drinking, decanting is recommended. Allow the wine 1–2 hours in a decanter or large Burgundy glass to reveal its full aromatic complexity and mineral depth.
Food Pairing
Serve at 15–17°C with roast duck, pheasant, guinea fowl, venison, lamb or beef in a light red-wine sauce. The domaine itself suggests pairing it with beef fillet and grilled foie gras, seven-hour lamb, slow-braised veal shank or venison.
Its acidity and fine tannins also suit mushroom-based dishes, truffle preparations and semi-aged cheeses such as Époisses, Comté or Cîteaux.
Collector Note
This is a highly sought-after allocation wine from a respected Burgundy producer working with one of Vosne-Romanée’s finest Premier Cru sites. Domaine de l’Arlot’s Les Suchots is produced in limited quantities, and the dramatically reduced yields of the 2024 vintage make availability especially tight.
The combination of the domaine’s reputation, the exceptional terroir of Les Suchots and the freshness of the 2024 vintage makes this a compelling long-term proposition for collectors of age-worthy red Burgundy.
Recommended serving: decant for 1–2 hours before serving at 15–17°C; use a large Burgundy glass to allow its floral, fruit and mineral complexity to unfold.
