2016 Domaine de L'Arlot Les Suchots, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, France 750ml

The 2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots includes 100% whole cluster with 50% new oak. It has a refined, elegant, mild-mannered bouquet with pure raspberry preserve, cranberry and subtle tobacco scents that unroll with aeration, though never quite delivering the opulence synonymous with the premier cru. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle but insistent grip on the entry. In some ways, the whole bunch addition lends this structure and shifts it toward, say, a Malconsorts in style (not to suggest that is necessarily a bad thing!). Linear and precise, it will require 7 to 10 years in bottle to really show its best. The bottom line is that this is one of the finest Les Suchots that I tasted in 2016.