Dominique Laurent, Meursault AOC, Les Forges

About Dominique Laurent

Dominique Laurent is a small-scale but high-quality n gociant and former p tissier based in Nuits-Saint-Georges, who produced his first wines in 1988. The portfolio is based on very small parcels of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines in dozens of appellations across the C te de Nuits and C te de Beaune. Quantities of individual wines are often tiny, with some wines made in just a single barrique, realizing just 300 bottles. Now wines from bought grapes are labeled as Dominique Laurent, while Domaine Laurent P re et Fils wines are made from nine hectares (22 acres) of estate vines, including plots in Meursault Poruzots and Nuits-Saint-Georges. Dominique Laurent invented, at the end of the 1980s, the concept of n gociant haute couture, specialized in vinifying at the highest-level small quantities of cuv es chosen for the exceptional quality of their vegetal material (old vines of the finest pinot noir grapes). His very unique way of conserving the wines for a long time Sur lies, without racking, and with a minimal or no use of sulphites, makes his wines very difficult to judge before bottling with the subsequent aeration that they receive. But the wait is worth the effort, as the wines acquire a plenitude of texture and aromatic complexity that sets it apart from other wines, as well as the very refined quality of the oak, with less recourse to new oak within the specially made barrels for the Dominique Laurent cooperage. For example, certain barrels such as the Ch nes de Tron ais give the wine unique qualities of dryness and burnt flavours.