Domaine Arnoux Lachaux estate ratings

The Michelin guide has brought new focus to the ranking of Domaines in Burgundy, and I have therefore decided to run through my Vin d’émotion guides … one by one … just to see if everything is up to date,

This brought me to Vosne-Romanée and Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux … a domaine always in focus and always debated with great interest.

The Guide Michelin rated Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux with one star, and this surprised me a bit, but I also realised that I needed to look at Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux again, as the rating could not be maintained unchanged, as I have not had the possibility to taste the wines after they changed to the new ceramic regime. I have previously rated Arnoux-Lachaux with a three hearts emmotional rating.

I have decided to suspend the rating of the Arnoux-Lachaux estate as a whole, rather than trying to make a revision based on my limited knowledge of the current style.

Not optimal … and I hope to include Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux again soon … but this does require that I taste the new ceramic wines to a larger extent.

I will, however, focus a bit on the historic Arnoux-Lachaux wines, as they have been somewhat up and down under the different regimes before Charles … so some interesting stuff for lovers of older Burgundies.

Background – change from oak to ceramics

Charles Lachaux have done an impressive job transforming Domaine Arnoux Lachaux into a modern and streamlined operation. All things have been optimised and changed to match the vision of Charles … a truly impressive dedication and a lot of hard work.

This transformation includes a full change of the vinification from a normal oak-based elevage to a full ceramic vinification with Clayver vessels.

The tests started around 2018 and were completed in the vintage 2022, where the vinification was fully transformed to Ceramic wessels.

I have tasted up to the 2020 vintage, where Charles Lachaux decided to stop the annual journalist tasting of the Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux wines.

This means that there has not been a tasting of the Arnoux Lachaux ceramic-based wines … and 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 have not yet been open for me to taste.

The elevage is now longer, so this does explain some of this change … 2024 was a very small vintage due to the mildew attack, but in reality, I have not had the opportunity to taste the Arnoux-Lachaux wines since the 2020 vintage.

The wines have changed completely with the introduction of the ceramic vinification and elevage, and experiences from Domaine Marshall – also Ceramics – show that this change from oak to ceramics is a fundamental change where the wines need to be reevaluated from scratch.

Bottom line … the experiences from previous years and vintages are not applicable for reviewing the new vintages of Domaine Arnnoux-Lachaux or the negociant brand Charles Lachaux.

I try to taste as much as I can, but I can not follow the wines as I did before, and especially the status of the Arnoux-Lachaux as a Vin d’emotion top rating is impossible to maintain, as all need to be recalibrated before a new rating can be established.

On this background, I have been forced to remove Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux from the vin d’émotion ratings.

I am sad to do this as I find the Charles Lachaux project very exciting and promising… but I am left with no choice.

Hope to include Arnoux-Lachaux in the guide again soonn.