Charles Lachaux Nuits-Saint-Georges La Petite Charmotte, Cote de Nuits, France 2023

Charles Lachaux is one of Burgundy’s most exciting up-and-coming winemakers today. In addition to running his family winery, Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux, Charles founded his eponymous micro-négociant label a few years back, which is based in the heart of the hallowed Vosne-Romanée appellation.

Nuits-Saint-Georges “La Petite Charmotte” 2023 is a precise, elegant expression of Pinot Noir from a northern Nuits-Saint-Georges lieu-dit just below Premier Cru Bousselot. Farmed with organic and biodynamic principles and vinified with whole clusters, the wine emphasizes freshness and transparency over power. Aromas of red cherry, wild raspberry, rose petal, and subtle earth lead into a finely detailed palate with bright acidity, silky tannins, and a pronounced limestone-driven, saline finish. Refined and energetic, it captures the cooler, mineral character of the site and offers both early appeal and graceful aging potential.

Charles Lachaux started his micro-négoce because of Aligoté. The Arnoux family has Aligoté and used to bottle it, but at some point it was deemed unworthy, and the grapes were sold off to négociants. Charles wanted to vinify those grapes again. So Charles started a micro-négoce to purchase the grapes from the domaine instead...Acquaintances of Charles who had recently taken over domaines from their parents were pouring their hearts and sweat into conscientious viticulture. They were sad to see their grapes go to much larger négociants where they would be blended into large cuvées. When they heard that Charles had started a négoce, they offered him some.....In Comblanchien, this lieu-dit is located at the top of the slope, facing east. White stony soils over limestone bedrock.