France’s 50 best winemakers: Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux’s Charles Lachaux
Sixth-generation winemaker of his family estate in Vosne-Romanée: “We are always competing against ourselves”.
For the 33rd interview in Le Figaro Vin’s series we remain in Burgundy to meet Charles Lachaux, #18. Winner of the Golden Vines World’s Best Rising Star Award 2021, he is one of the most exciting winemakers in Vosne-Romanée, rewriting the rulebook for a world still firmly rooted in tradition.
With some thirty-odd years under his belt, and 15 hectares of vines, comprised of 15 Côte-de-Nuits appellations, at his disposal, Charles Lachaux represents the sixth generation of the family to take his place at the helm of the estate; an estate which he radically transformed within a few short years. One of his most recent innovations has seen wooden barrels entirely replaced by ceramic sandstone vats to give the brightness of his Pinot Noirs its purest possible expression. Here is no ordinary winemaker.
Le Figaro Vin: How does it feel to be crowned a winemaking champion?
Charles Lachaux: I have been in the spotlight ever since winning the Golden Vines award and this is a lovely accolade. It’s always nice to get some recognition, but it represents a snapshot in time, and you then have to maintain the same level. We can all call to mind iconic winemakers, but when you have the opportunity to achieve that status there is no margin for error. In any case, I’m not an icon yet. We will have to revisit that question in 30 years’ time!
What is your greatest source of pride?
To have taken so many risks in such a conservative region and profession in order to achieve my goals.
Have you been training for long?
You train without even being aware of it. I was always involved in every aspect of viticulture and vinification, on Wednesdays, when we didn’t have school, and at weekends. I spent all my time on the estate.
Who is your mentor?
My parents. I have worked all over the place, but I learnt my trade here on the estate and my parents are the ones who gave me the grounding to get to where I wanted. From 2012 I began to make changes, starting with “la vendange entière” (whole-cluster fermentation, in which the harvested grapes are fermented in full bunches, still attached to their stems, ed.). There have also been some notable encounters which have broadened my horizons.
Is wine a team sport?
Yes, but we should acknowledge that it takes a bit of both. We could not do everything without a strong team, but there are times when you are on your own as the winemaker, as the decision-maker. It’s always a combination of the two; I have sole responsibility for the decisions I take to the best of my knowledge and belief. The decisions are ultimately down to me, even though I share a good deal with my mother.
What is the key to making a good wine? The terroir or the winemaker?
It is easier to make a good wine with a good terroir and good vines, because the soil and genetic quality of the vines are paramount. The winemaker can only enhance them.
To what do you owe your success?
It’s due to circumstances. I made some very bold choices at a time when the world of wine’s attention was focused on Burgundy and a radical approach was all the vogue, so that’s what I went for. A number of others did the same thing, but not at the right time. My innovations have become fashionable: vine-trellising systems are changing, and people are buying ceramic tanks. The fact that these things work, and are not mere speculation, makes other winemakers want to try them out. I have been inspired by what I have observed elsewhere: leaving the vines untrimmed like Bize-Leroy, “la vendange entière”, the older vintages of Romanée-Conti and Dujac, Nicolas Faure’s échalas (a vine-trellising system used in the northern Rhône, whereby the vines are attached to individual stakes, ed.), and so on. Lastly, my success is also thanks to my family.
Is your family proud of you?
I think so, I certainly hope they are. I could never have done it all without them.
What is your favourite colour?
Red, because it’s my favourite wine.
Your favourite grape variety?
Pinot Noir. It’s a chameleon, it can assume different hues, different aspects, it’s never boring.
Your favourite vintage?
The next one. Every year we start from scratch, we see the changes in the vines and grapes, and we fine-tune things more and more.
If your wine was a person, who would it be?
If I’ve done a good job then my wine looks like where it comes from and the people who contribute to it.
What are the best circumstances in which to taste your wine?
In a simple way, just wanting to have a good time. Unfortunately we have lost sight of this in Burgundy, where wine now tends to be sanctified. That’s understandable, given the prices, but all the ceremony can spoil the enjoyment.
Who is your strongest competition?
Nature, which is also our greatest ally, as well as the constantly evolving conditions of production, with all the micro-organisms, etc. Nature allows us to make progress, but it can also ruin us.
And the competition that you dread the most?
We are always under stress, but a competition implies a capacity to fight. Frost and hail are not competitions because we can’t do anything about them. We shouldn’t be afraid of competition: we are always competing against ourselves.
For what price would you be prepared to sell your estate?
Not for any price because it’s not for sale. Besides, it doesn’t belong to me, I am merely the sixth generation and it’s on loan from my children.
Who would be your ideal successor on the podium?
Someone with the desire to keep changing and progressing and who will not be seduced by fame.