Château d'Arlay Pinot Noir Côtes du Jura

Secondary, savory sous bois and quite lean

Decanted for 3 hours. Open for business. Great nose of worn saddle and earth. Complex and evolving. On the palate, pure, very linear cherries, tart. not a super long finish. The nose makes this wine.

My understanding is that this is the product of the 2005 vintage, which then sat in barrel (presumably on its lees, this being a Jura after all) until 2009. Very smooth entry and mouthfeel, dark on the palate, more dark blue/black fruits but with also a solid element of tart red cranberry. This is not showing young, plump fruit, and there is little sweetness nor richness to the fruit; it comes across as smooth, somewhat tart, soft and round on …

Tasted over the course of two days. Took a little time to open up, maybe an hour or two. After that, had a beautiful nose. Cedar, mountain herb, funky soil, dark berry fruit, plums, candied orange rind, and herbs de provence. Really fun stuff. It was equally complex across the palate, hard to believe for a $25 red. Showed the best after about 36 hours open. Lots of integration and balance.

This reminded me very much of a German pinot noir I drank a week ago. This wine, too, had a pleasant body and mouthfeel but was quite deficient in fruit. The flavor profile was sour and acidic with no hint of ripeness, but less lean than the Enderle & Moll. A wine definitely for the AFWE, and much more pleasant with food than on its own.

Youthful garnet. Developed bouquet with cool raspberry fruit, some sois-bois, toasted oak. Silky palate, medium bodied but fleshy, soft red fruits, touch of spice. Good finish, smooth and elegant. Good stuff, true to type.

Drank over three nights. Very acidic and harsh on first night but showed some nice flavor potential. By third night much smoother and better integrated with more elegance. Needs at least 5-10 more years before becoming more enjoyable.