There are rare moments in the history of wine when we feel, with absolute clarity, that we are facing a structural shift — a change that redefines horizons and forever alters the way we understand the expression of great terroirs.
The 2022 vintage from Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux is that moment!

For the first time in the domaine’s history, all the wines — from Bourgogne Pinot Fin to Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru — were raised exclusively in Clayvers, precision ceramic vessels, completely neutral, which allow an unprecedented reading of Pinot Noir from the most sacred slopes of the Côte de Nuits.

It is a powerful and profound revolution, with seismic impact: 36 months of maturation on fine lees in ceramic — no wood, no exogenous tannins, no aromatic interference, no “oenological signature.”
What arrives in the glass is pure earth — direct, naked, crystalline.

When we ask Charles why, he replies: “Each barrel, even when completely identical, takes its own path, and I cannot deal with surprises when I give my life to my vineyards… I want each parcel to express itself with purity and without external interferences to its respective terroir.”

And we, at Temple Wines, who have closely followed Charles and his team’s journey, feel a profound privilege in witnessing this historic moment.

---

A Centenary History in Search of Purity

The domaine was founded in 1858, in Vosne-Romanée, and has always remained in the hands of the same family.
With Pascal Lachaux and Florence Arnoux, and later with the arrival of Charles Lachaux in 2012, the domaine transformed into a living laboratory dedicated to the most radical, demanding, and visionary viticulture of contemporary Burgundy.

Charles brought:

– biodynamics
– high trellising (palissages hauts) with 2-metre échalas, faithful to the spirit of Domaine Leroy, one of his great inspirations
– the total stop of trimming (rognage) (since 2020)
– non-tillage of the soils
– 100% whole cluster
– extreme planting densities, such as 16,000 vines/ha in several parcels (60% more plants than the norm)
– and a winemaking style increasingly refined, longer yet more infusion-driven

The result? Wines that impress through emotion and depth, precisely because they express the terroir with a truth never seen before — and with an almost supernatural clarity. Every slope, every limestone vein, every stream of cold air crossing a “piece of land.”

William Kelley summarised it with a clarity rarely seen:

“Lachaux continues to push the boundaries, and it's immensely gratifying to see someone who considers that inheriting some of the greatest vineyards in the world imposes an obligation to take risks that others can't, rather than merely entitling him to a high bottle price.”
— Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

---

Why Clayver? Precision. Transparency. Absolute Purity.

Clayvers are ceramic vessels made in Liguria, fired at around 1280°C, designed not to reach an “ideal temperature,” but to match the porosity of a three-year-old barrel (around 14 mg/L of oxygen).

Each unit costs between €8,000 and €8,500 — almost seven times more than a top-tier barrel.
But the advantages are undeniable:

– completely neutral
– add no flavours, tannins or structure
– reduce brettanomyces risk
– reduce the need for sulphur (none was added to the 2022s up to the moment of tasting)
– minimise handling, losses and oxygenation
– do not need replacement
– more sustainable than cutting centuries-old oak trees

And above all: they enable an unprecedented reading of the great terroirs of Vosne-Romanée, Nuits, Chambolle and Flagey.

Charles can also fill them in just a day and a half — versus two weeks to fill barrels — which allows him to choose specific astronomical-natural moments:
fruit day, descending moon, clear sky.

If wine is a language, Clayvers are the high-fidelity microphone that captures every geological syllable.

---

2022: The First 100% Ceramic Vintage

This is the year that marks a tectonic shift in the style of the domaine.
All wines underwent 36 months on fine lees in ceramic — something never done before in Burgundy, at any comparable scale.

What we tasted recently at the domaine does not feel like a new chapter.
It feels like a new literary genre.

Guilherme described this sensation in almost cinematic terms:

“Hearing the voice of the earth with the clarity sought by a hardcore audiophile. Drinking a sip of the history and geography of each ‘piece of land’ as if it were an 8K film.”

Indeed, the textures are deeper and at the same time more diaphanous;
the aromatics cleaner, more focused;
the palates tighter and longer;
the tactile sensation purer and highly mineral.

There is a certain sacred rawness, as if the ceramic had stripped away everything that was not essential.

---

The Spirit of the Domaine Today

Charles’s viticulture is one of the most radical and coherent in modern Burgundy.
Jasper Morris described him as:

“A man who has extended the possibilities of just how fine the great wines of Burgundy can be.”
(“I am thrilled that at least once, someone has attempted what Charles has done and expanded what is possible for the great wines of Burgundy.”)

It is difficult to say more than this.

Today, all the domaine’s vineyards — from Villages to Grands Crus — follow the same principles:

– late pruning in gobelet
– zero tillage since 2020
– tall vegetation, rolled, never cut
– extreme biodiversity, with natural legumes and beneficial fungi
– minimal intervention
– enormous field teams (30 people during peak season)
– 100% whole cluster
– 100% gravity
– short macerations
– vertical press
– barrels used five times, now replaced by ceramic
– very early harvests
– yields that sometimes fall to 9 hl/ha
– vineyards where, literally, sometimes the vines can hardly be seen among the vegetation

Anyone visiting the vineyards understands this immediately:
it is another world.

This is not a method.
It is philosophy.
It is ethics.
It is courage.

And it is this courage that makes Arnoux-Lachaux one of the most influential domaines in contemporary Burgundy — now cited as a reference by dozens of new-generation vignerons. Moreover, we already see Portuguese producers using Clayvers, including our beloved Domínio do Açor.

---

Our Personal Testimony

We have been fortunate — and moved — to visit the domaine several times, before and after the revolution led by Charles.

It is impossible not to feel that these wines are made for those who seek the truth of the land, not the comfort of oenology.

As I wrote some time ago:

“Every bottle from this domaine is a plunge into geology, climate and topography — a vertical reading of the Holy Land, distilled into depth, infinity and purity.”

The prices are high, yes — but how could it be otherwise?
The yields are microscopic, the practices almost impossible to replicate, the human labour immense. And the wines are the most faithful interpretations/manifestations of Burgundy’s sacred terroirs that one can find.

And anyone who opens a bottle knows:
this is one of the very rare addresses on the planet where terroir sings in divine frequency.

---

A New Landmark in Burgundy — and the Honour of Bringing It to Portugal

2022 marks the beginning of a new era for Arnoux-Lachaux: the era of ceramic.
An era of absolute precision, radical purism, and territorial expression pushed to the limit of what is possible.

And we at Temple Wines feel immense — almost reverential — pride in being the home of these wines in Portugal.

Wines which, as Guilherme said, belong to the category of the fabulous post-modern:
alive, vibrant, ethereal, vertical, transparent and deeply rooted in the sacred nature of their land.

From now on, the 2022s will rest another year in the cellar before reaching the market.
And the world — literally — waits with impatience.

So do we.