Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
2013 Nuits St. Georges “Les Lavières” ♥Villages Red 750 ml
Score: 89
Tasted: Jan 15, 2016
Drink: 2021+
Issue: 61
Outstanding
Note: this wine is only sold in the UK
Producer note: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2014 had a “moderately complicated growing season mostly because the summer conditions were decidedly less than ideal. Thankfully we had an excellent spring with an early bud break and an even flowering. However there was the concern about the Suzukii flies and while the fears of that infestation turned out to be overblown, it doesn’t mean that we weren’t worried about it. In the end we didn’t have too many problems with them though there were a few parcels that required careful sorting work. We chose to begin picking on the 15th of September and brought in relatively clean and ripe fruit that mostly didn’t require a lot of sorting. I chaptalized on average from .5 to .8% of a degree while using around 15% whole clusters for some wines. Yields though weren’t abundant as they came in between 25 to 27 hl/ha, which is about 15% less than we realized in 2009. As to the wines, they have excellent colors with excellent freshness and vivacity while offering generous and fleshy mouth feels, medium structures and should be approachable young. I like the 2014 vintage but I prefer the style of my 2013s.” Liger-Belair said that most of the wines had not been racked and were as a result reduced which I found to be the case. Note that the 2013s revisited below were bottled between October 2014 and April, 2015. Lastly be sure to check out the historic La Romanée Progress Report at the end of this Issue. (Becky Wasserman & Co., www.leserbet.com, Beaune, France; additional distributors include Veritas Imports, www.veritaswine.com, CA/NV/AZ/NM, Grand Cru Selections, LLC, nedbenedict@gmail.com, NY/NJ, Wines Unlimited, www.winesunlimited.com, New Orleans, LA, Classified Wine & Spirits, LLC, www.classifiedwine.net, Austin, TX, C’est Vin, LLC, 703/243-3559, Arlington, VA, and USA Wine Imports, www.usawineimports.com, NY, NY for “Selection Pas Mal”, New York, NY; Justerini & Brooks, www.justerinis.com, UK and Richards Walford & Co., Ltd., www.r-w.co.uk, UK).
Tasting note: A very mild touch of reduction is not enough to completely mask the earthy, ripe and cool red and dark berry fruit scent. There is good drive and appealing detail to the lightly mineral-inflected medium weight flavors that are shaped by ripe if slightly rustic tannins on the nicely lingering finish that is not especially austere. This recommended effort should be approachable young if desired yet should also deliver 6 to 8 years of upside development potential.
Domaine du Comte Liger Belair, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Aux Lavieres
US$8,700 / 每箱價格
Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
2013 Nuits St. Georges “Les Lavières” ♥Villages Red 750 ml
Score: 89
Tasted: Jan 15, 2016
Drink: 2021+
Issue: 61
Outstanding
Note: this wine is only sold in the UK
Producer note: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2014 had a “moderately complicated growing season mostly because the summer conditions were decidedly less than ideal. Thankfully we had an excellent spring with an early bud break and an even flowering. However there was the concern about the Suzukii flies and while the fears of that infestation turned out to be overblown, it doesn’t mean that we weren’t worried about it. In the end we didn’t have too many problems with them though there were a few parcels that required careful sorting work. We chose to begin picking on the 15th of September and brought in relatively clean and ripe fruit that mostly didn’t require a lot of sorting. I chaptalized on average from .5 to .8% of a degree while using around 15% whole clusters for some wines. Yields though weren’t abundant as they came in between 25 to 27 hl/ha, which is about 15% less than we realized in 2009. As to the wines, they have excellent colors with excellent freshness and vivacity while offering generous and fleshy mouth feels, medium structures and should be approachable young. I like the 2014 vintage but I prefer the style of my 2013s.” Liger-Belair said that most of the wines had not been racked and were as a result reduced which I found to be the case. Note that the 2013s revisited below were bottled between October 2014 and April, 2015. Lastly be sure to check out the historic La Romanée Progress Report at the end of this Issue. (Becky Wasserman & Co., www.leserbet.com, Beaune, France; additional distributors include Veritas Imports, www.veritaswine.com, CA/NV/AZ/NM, Grand Cru Selections, LLC, nedbenedict@gmail.com, NY/NJ, Wines Unlimited, www.winesunlimited.com, New Orleans, LA, Classified Wine & Spirits, LLC, www.classifiedwine.net, Austin, TX, C’est Vin, LLC, 703/243-3559, Arlington, VA, and USA Wine Imports, www.usawineimports.com, NY, NY for “Selection Pas Mal”, New York, NY; Justerini & Brooks, www.justerinis.com, UK and Richards Walford & Co., Ltd., www.r-w.co.uk, UK).
Tasting note: A very mild touch of reduction is not enough to completely mask the earthy, ripe and cool red and dark berry fruit scent. There is good drive and appealing detail to the lightly mineral-inflected medium weight flavors that are shaped by ripe if slightly rustic tannins on the nicely lingering finish that is not especially austere. This recommended effort should be approachable young if desired yet should also deliver 6 to 8 years of upside development potential.
