Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose starts with a forward mix of red and black cherry plus a rather mineral note. The longer it stays in the glass, it becomes redder and finer but with much less volume. The palate is mainly about balance – reasonable concentration and a sneaky extra cherry dimension that goes into the palate too. It’s quite lithe, not too muscular and again a little mineral. Today it’s a classy if slightly anonymous bottle – a very good bottle for sure, but one that I hope will become even better. Given it’s lowly en-primeur purchase price of 29 Swiss francs it remains an easy and bargain rebuy, if you can find some for that…
Lignier-Michelot
2005 Lignier-Michelot Bourgogne
Medium-plus colour with plenty of purple. Very understated nose – very little to say for the first glass, but glass two shows black cherry and a lovely red berry note as it drains. The palate is quite full, nicely textured and has good acidity that rolls into the finish. There’s a nice little burst in the mid-palate before you feel the slight astringence of the tannin. Lots of character here and enjoyed from the start.
2005 Lignier-Michelot Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
Deep colour with a purple rim. The nose has vibrant dark-shaded fruit with a soft undertone of mocha/coffee – after twenty minutes the coffee’s gone. The concentrated fruit expands even further in the mid-palate. There’s plenty of tannin, and though it’s not the most sophisticated, it’s quite well textured and very well covered by the fruit concentration. The finish is long, giving a slow diminuendo. This is quite a villages wine but will require plenty of slumber – excellent.