Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
2013Vosne-Romanée “Clos du Château” ♥Villages Red 750 ml
Score: 89
Tasted: Jan 15, 2015
Drink: 2019+
Issue: 57
Outstanding
Note: a monopole of the Domaine with 35+ year old vines and much rockier soil than Columbière; 100% new wood; this was bottled at the end of September 2014
Producer note: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2013 was, in the same fashion as 2012, marked by a “terrible flowering that cost us yet again dearly with respect to yields as they were off around 40%. In a sense though the small crop saved the vintage because with all of the rain and the lack of sunshine we never would have obtained a decent level of phenolic maturity. Even so this is the first time that I have ever seen tiny green berries at harvest time. We picked from the 5th to the 9th of October and brought in generally clean fruit though there was some sorting required for a bit of everything, which is to say for under ripe as well as rot-tinged berries. Sugars were perfectly good at between 12 and 12.5% potential alcohols and I used around 15% whole clusters for some wines. The malos were very slow as the harvest was late and even though winter was not really all that cold, it was long. As to the wines I honestly never expected to have such a high quality level. The wines were really masked by the malos as they simply weren’t very interesting during it and then, as if by magic, as soon as they were finished the wines blossomed. Moreover they have improved month by month to the point where I quite like them. They’re balanced, refreshing, vibrant and best of all, they are super transparent.” I noted this last year, but it doesn’t hurt to remind fans of the domaine that there is a new wine in the form of the 2.21 ha Nuits 1er monopole of La Grande Vigne (it’s actually in Prémeaux). There is also a white made from this vineyard as a .32 ha portion of La Grande Vigne is planted to chardonnay; a review for both the 2012 and 2013 will be in Issue 59. Note that the ’12s were revisited below and were bottled between January and April, 2014. (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: An intensely floral nose displays very fresh and cool aromas of assorted red berries and subtle spice notes that are trimmed in hints of sandalwood. There is fine intensity to the delineated and vibrant middle weight flavors that possess a suave and very round mouth feel that continues onto the lingering and well-balanced finish. This lightly mineral-inflected effort is really very pretty. Recommended.
Domaine du Comte Liger Belair, Vosne-Romanee, Clos du Chateau
US$8,000 / 每箱價格
Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
2013Vosne-Romanée “Clos du Château” ♥Villages Red 750 ml
Score: 89
Tasted: Jan 15, 2015
Drink: 2019+
Issue: 57
Outstanding
Note: a monopole of the Domaine with 35+ year old vines and much rockier soil than Columbière; 100% new wood; this was bottled at the end of September 2014
Producer note: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2013 was, in the same fashion as 2012, marked by a “terrible flowering that cost us yet again dearly with respect to yields as they were off around 40%. In a sense though the small crop saved the vintage because with all of the rain and the lack of sunshine we never would have obtained a decent level of phenolic maturity. Even so this is the first time that I have ever seen tiny green berries at harvest time. We picked from the 5th to the 9th of October and brought in generally clean fruit though there was some sorting required for a bit of everything, which is to say for under ripe as well as rot-tinged berries. Sugars were perfectly good at between 12 and 12.5% potential alcohols and I used around 15% whole clusters for some wines. The malos were very slow as the harvest was late and even though winter was not really all that cold, it was long. As to the wines I honestly never expected to have such a high quality level. The wines were really masked by the malos as they simply weren’t very interesting during it and then, as if by magic, as soon as they were finished the wines blossomed. Moreover they have improved month by month to the point where I quite like them. They’re balanced, refreshing, vibrant and best of all, they are super transparent.” I noted this last year, but it doesn’t hurt to remind fans of the domaine that there is a new wine in the form of the 2.21 ha Nuits 1er monopole of La Grande Vigne (it’s actually in Prémeaux). There is also a white made from this vineyard as a .32 ha portion of La Grande Vigne is planted to chardonnay; a review for both the 2012 and 2013 will be in Issue 59. Note that the ’12s were revisited below and were bottled between January and April, 2014. (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: An intensely floral nose displays very fresh and cool aromas of assorted red berries and subtle spice notes that are trimmed in hints of sandalwood. There is fine intensity to the delineated and vibrant middle weight flavors that possess a suave and very round mouth feel that continues onto the lingering and well-balanced finish. This lightly mineral-inflected effort is really very pretty. Recommended.
