Historical

The Ente family come originally from the north of France, near Armentières. However Arnaud’s father married a girl from Puligny-Montrachet, daughter of vigneron Camille David. Arnaud, born in 1966, married Marie-Odile Thévenot in 1991 and installed himself in Meursault the following year with vineyards farmed from the Thévenot family. Their son Pierre is now working full time at the domaine, with especial responsibility for the red wines.

Viticulture & Vinification

Arnaud Ente’s wines in the 1990s attracted a lot of attention for their opulent style at a time when Arnaud preferred to pick late for maximum ripeness. Since 2000 Arnaud has switched to a programme of earlier picking so as to retain natural acidity and a greater sense of minerality. Indeed, Arnaud has become a byword for early picking in a way that has unfairly attracted criticism from others in the village. The time to pick is when the grapes are ripe, and Arnaud and Marie-Odile Ente’s meticulous husbandry in the vineyards bring the grapes to maturity earlier than may be the case with other vignerons. Certainly his wines taste ripe while retaining a vivid freshness of style.

The latest development is in the cellar. Having made some cuvees in the minute 2016 vintage using glass jars, because there was not enough volume for even a single barrel of certain vineyards, Arnaud found that he very much liked the result. As a result, he has invested in the purchase of larger glass containers which he is using for certain wines from the 2018 vintage. Keen as he is on these receptacles, Arnaud does not wish them to become the story. What matters is that he continues to produce wines of striking quality and that he feels free to find his own path towards his particular brand of perfection. The new label (introduced in 2009) represents absolutely the style of his wine, pure, precise and chiselled.

Vineyards

Initially most of Arnaud’s Meursault came from just one vineyard, En l’Ormeau, which does not appear on the label. The younger vines are the basis of the straight Meursault, those planted in and around 1950 become the Clos des Ambres – seventy years old now but still not the real old vine cuvée which is the extraordinary Sève du Clos. This comes from individual vines believed to have been planted immediately after phylloxera. These old vines give marvellous concentration every year, with a core of minerality running through the middle which confirms exceptional ageing potential.

It took longer for Arnaud to master the reds and these continue to improve now that son Pierre has taken on responsibility for them. The domaine has been certified organic since 2014.