2018 Arbois Trousseau Berangers

The 2018 Arbois Beranger (Trousseau) emerges from a tiny 0.5-hectare parcel Guillaume D’Angerville purchased from Jacques Puffeney. Dark and exquisitely layered in the glass, the 2018 presents a dark, intense expression of Trousseau, and yet does so while maintaining the freshness and energy that is so typical of these wines. Black cherry, spice, leather, scorched earth and licorice are some of the many notes that give the 2018 its distinctive personality. As appealing as the wine is today, I would cellar it for a few years to allow the full breadth of its aromatics to develop. The Beranger is offered only in magnum. It won’t be easy to find but it is worth the hunt. What a special wine it is.

Previously farmed by Jacques Puffeney, this parcel in Montigny-lès-Arsures, the ‘capital of Trousseau’, is now part of Domaine du Pélican. Puffeney used to call his wine ‘Les Bérangères’. The soil is made of alluvium and silt over grey marl, stony enough to allow good drainage. The vines are over 50 years old. South and south-west exposure and fairly low elevation (circa 300–330 m). Aged in 350-litre Burgundy barrels – no new oak. Not enough volume for a foudre. Bottled August 2019. Mid crimson but the darkest of the 2018 Dom de Pélican reds. Seems to show a little more oak on the nose even though there is none new. Spicy and smells richer than the Pinot Noir and the Trois Cépages. Firmer, a little more tannic and yet almost luscious in the mouth. Smoothly chewy rather than silky. A little less refined yet more power. (JH)