Charles Lachaux

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. Charles Lachaux started his micro-négoce because of Aligoté. On several occasions, he had blind tasted d’ Auvenay’s Aligoté Sous Châtelet alongside serious Premier and Grand Cru Chardonnays. Sometimes it trounced the other whites; sometimes it was at least in the same league —always, it was up there.

Other brilliant Aligotés were popping up too: La Corvée de Bully from Charles’ friend Nicolas Faure, the single-vineyard bottlings from Sylvain Pataille, Les Chagniots from Chanterêves.

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. Had it been 2021, he would have probably made the Aligoté under the domaine’s label. But in 2018, he was already pushing through a tsunami of change. As nice and supportive as his parents were, a domaine Aligoté could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. So Charles started a micro-négoce to purchase the grapes from the domaine instead. His father, Pascal, had also made négoce wines. The tanks were still at the domaine. There was a separate space to vinify the négoce wine. Logistically, it would be easy. 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.

So instead of just the Aligoté, the début for the Charles Lachaux label included five wines. Incidentally, the label was designed by Charles’ wife Louise, who is a graphic designer. The rose is for the couple’s eldest daughter, Rose. In 2019, there were six wines; three additional wines were made in 2020, but one of the 2019 sources was dropped. That being said, Charles does not plan to expand the selection drastically.

With one exception, there are no noteworthy differences in winemaking between the Charles Lachaux and Arnoux-Lachaux wines. The exception is ageing. The Charles Lachaux wines are bottled after a little less than a year, as opposed to 18 months for the domaine wines. This difference does make a difference. The négoce wines are fruit-driven, caught before their stay in oak leaves noticeable patina —vins de soif. Of course, they’re still from Burgundy and can age. But the goal is immediate pleasure.

All fruit for Charles’ wines is picked by hand and vinified with native yeasts. Reds are vinified with 100% whole clusters and are macerated for less than two weeks. The main difference between the Arnoux-Lachaux wines and Charles’ négociant wines is their aging regimen, of which Charles’ wines are much shorter (less than one year versus 18 months). These incredible wines strike the perfect balance of being approachable in their youth, yet able to withstand long periods of aging in the cellar.

In the vineyard, Charles allows his canopies to grow to soaring heights, and grass is encouraged to flourish between vineyard rows. It’s safe to say that Charles is one of the most progressive and forward-thinking winemakers in Burgundy today. His passion and dedication shine through each bottle produced at his hands. These wines are fresh, fruit-driven, and show an immensely profound character that rivals—if not surpasses—some of the region’s greatest names.