Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux

The estate was founded in 1858 in Vosne-Romanée by Charles Arnoux and his wife Renée Salbreux, and was originally known as Arnoux-Salbreux. The first cellar, built in the late 1880s, is still in use today. The Arnoux side ran the domaine for more than a century before Robert Arnoux brought the estate to a wider audience in the postwar decades, building Domaine Robert Arnoux into one of the more respected addresses in Vosne. In 1987, Pascal Lachaux married Florence Arnoux, one of Robert's daughters, and joined the domaine to work alongside his father-in-law. Pascal had trained originally as a pharmacist in homeopathy before turning to wine. When Robert died in February 1995, Pascal and Florence took over the running of the estate. From the 2007 vintage they changed the label from Domaine Robert Arnoux to Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux to reflect the union of the two families.

• Founded 1858 in Vosne-Romanée by Charles Arnoux and Renée Salbreux as Domaine Arnoux-Salbreux
• Robert Arnoux built Domaine Robert Arnoux into a respected modern Vosne address through the postwar decades
• Pascal Lachaux married Florence Arnoux in 1987 and joined his father-in-law at the domaine
• Robert Arnoux died February 1995; Pascal and Florence took over; the label became Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux from the 2007 vintage

Charles Lachaux, the eldest son of Pascal and Florence, joined the family estate in 2011 and made his first vintage in 2012. Pascal handed full winemaking control to Charles from the 2015 vintage. Charles trained at the lycée viticole in Beaune and is open about the influence of Lalou Bize-Leroy at Domaine Leroy, whose viticultural ideas shaped his own approach. The change in style was not gradual. From 2012 onwards Charles raised the trellis height to roughly 1.7 metres, stopped leaf-pulling, stopped trimming the vine shoots, and pushed whole-cluster fermentation into the vinifications. The press is the same vertical press the estate has used since 2010. From the 2022 vintage, traditional oak barrels were replaced for élevage by sandstone amphoras across most of the range, a shift that has further reset the texture and aromatics of the wines.

• Charles Lachaux joined the estate in 2011; first vintage 2012; full winemaking control from 2015
• Acknowledges Lalou Bize-Leroy of Domaine Leroy as a major viticultural influence
• From 2012: higher trellising (around 1.7 m), no leaf-pulling, no shoot trimming, whole-cluster fermentation
• Vertical press since 2010; sandstone amphoras replaced oak barrels for most cuvées from the 2022 vintage

The domaine farms approximately 14 hectares across roughly fifteen appellations on the Côte de Nuits. The four Grand Crus are the heart of the portfolio. Romanée-Saint-Vivant is the flagship, with about 0.34 hectares of ninety-year-old vines sitting roughly fifty metres from Romanée-Conti itself. Echézeaux contributes about 0.8 hectares of older vines in Flagey-Echézeaux. Clos de Vougeot supplies about 0.45 hectares from the Quartier de Marei Haut on the upper, better-drained section of the clos, producing a maximum of around 2,100 bottles per vintage. Latricières-Chambertin, the only holding outside the Vosne-Nuits-Flagey-Vougeot cluster, was acquired with the 2008 vintage and runs to 0.53 hectares across two parcels. Five Premier Crus follow: in Vosne-Romanée the domaine farms Les Suchots, Aux Reignots, and Les Chaumes; in Nuits-Saint-Georges, Les Procès and Clos des Corvées Pagets. Village holdings are in Vosne-Romanée (including Les Hautes Maizières), Nuits-Saint-Georges (including Les Poisets), and Chambolle-Musigny, where the village cuvée comes from a blend of small parcels at the top of the Chambolle slope. The estate also bottles a Bourgogne Pinot Fin from younger and lower-classified vines.

• Four Grand Crus: Romanée-Saint-Vivant (about 0.34 ha, flagship), Echézeaux (about 0.8 ha), Clos de Vougeot Quartier de Marei Haut (about 0.45 ha), and Latricières-Chambertin (0.53 ha, acquired 2008)
• Five Premier Crus: Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots, Aux Reignots, Les Chaumes; Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Procès and Clos des Corvées Pagets
• Village holdings in Vosne-Romanée (including Les Hautes Maizières), Nuits-Saint-Georges (including Les Poisets), and Chambolle-Musigny (blend of upper-slope parcels)
• Romanée-Saint-Vivant parcel sits roughly fifty metres from Romanée-Conti and is planted to vines around ninety years old

Charles has moved the domaine to regenerative agriculture and biodynamics, with eco-grazing by sheep introduced in 2021 to fertilise the parcels and keep the cover crops down. The high trellis and untrimmed shoots are the most visible signature: the vines grow tall and arch over the rows, increasing the leaf-to-fruit ratio and slowing ripening. In the cellar Charles works with whole clusters across the range, with the percentage adjusted by parcel and vintage but never below the level that the domaine considers an honest expression of stem. Fermentations are short, with minimal pumping over and almost no extraction in the modern sense. Élevage now takes place predominantly in sandstone amphoras since the 2022 vintage, after Charles concluded that oak was masking the precision he was trying to draw from each parcel. The result is a stylistic shift away from the riper, oak-marked Burgundy of the early 2000s towards a leaner, more aromatic, and more vineyard-driven style.

• Biodynamic and regenerative viticulture; eco-grazing by sheep introduced 2021
• High trellising (around 1.7 m) and no shoot trimming raise the leaf-to-fruit ratio and slow ripening
• Whole-cluster fermentation across the range; short macerations with minimal extraction
• Élevage predominantly in sandstone amphoras since the 2022 vintage, replacing the previous oak barrel program

The market caught up with the cellar in 2021 and 2022. Charles won Best Rising Star at the Golden Vines Awards in July 2021. In late 2022, Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux jumped sixty places in the Liv-ex Power 100 to finish second behind Domaine Leroy, with Liv-ex citing an average price increase across the wines of roughly 487 percent and noting that demand exploded across 2021 and 2022. Allocations are now among the tightest in Burgundy. Charles also runs a small négociant label under his own name, Maison Charles Lachaux, which sources Premier Cru and Grand Cru fruit (including Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Boudots) from outside the family domaine. The Arnoux-Lachaux name today sits in the same conversation as Leroy, Rousseau, and Roumier in the Burgundian collector market.

• Charles Lachaux won Best Rising Star at the Golden Vines Awards, July 2021
• Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux ranked second on the Liv-ex Power 100 in 2022, behind only Domaine Leroy
• Average price increase across the wines reported at roughly 487 percent in the 2021-2022 surge
• Charles also runs Maison Charles Lachaux, a small négociant label sourcing additional Premier and Grand Cru parcels