About Domaine Arnoux Pere & Fils

If you were to sit down and ask the average Burgundy lover to rank their favorite appellations, it’s unlikely that Chorey-les-Beaune would make the list. Chorey sits just below D974, the local thoroughfare that serves as the dividing line between the region’s best vineyards and the rest. Look up from the village and the hill of Corton looms threateningly, suggesting Chorey would be better off not producing wine. But as with most of Burgundy, in the past twenty years we have been forced to reappraise these ‘second-rate’ villages, as the overall quality of viticulture and winemaking has improved exponentially.

Domaine Arnoux is a case in point. Pascal Arnoux is the fourth generation to lead his family’s estate since it was created in the 1920s. It was Pascal’s grandfather Rene who founded it and in the years since it grew to just over twenty hectares spread across almost as many appellations, from Bourgogne to Corton. Pascal is joined in his work by his wife Caroline and his children Audrey and Jean-Baptiste.

The work in the vineyards is meticulous – everything is done by hand and by eschewing synthetic products whenever possible. In the cellar, the work is precise and transparent and as the children have become more involved, the wines have evolved. Across the range, the reds are pure, very red-fruited and aromatic, while the whites are tense and mineral. The amount of new oak ranges from zero at the entry-level to thirty percent in the 1er Crus and Grand Crus.