Tasted in Vosne with Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, 6th November 2014.
Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
1 Rue du Château
21700 Vosne-Romanée
Tel: +33 3 80 62 13 70
+33 3 80 62 13 70
www.liger-belair.fr
Positioning 2013:
Yields for the domaine:
28 hl/ha in 2011
25 hl/ha in 2012
22 hl/ha in 2013
30 hl/ha in 2014 (roughly)
The wines…
Quite a hard selection to taste due to a mix of reduction and some gas on the palate – but it is always so at this address before Christmas. It’s the price you pay for such an early view. But the ‘higher’ wines are really quite something, the Nuits Cras being a very easy ‘value’ pick!
2013 Nuits St.Georges 1er Clos des Grands Vignes Blanc
A savoury nose. Salinity and fine length on the palate. A savoury wine.
2013 Vosne-Romanée
Will be racked in a couple of months.
There is reduction here, but there’s also a very nice texture and good depth of flavour too. This is very good for the most ‘basic’ Vosne, and the last drops in the glass smell lovely…
2013 Vosne-Romanée Colombière
Also plenty of reduction. Wider and finer across the tongue – there’s a little more intensity with a faint salinity too. Super!
2013 Vosne-Romanée Clos du Château
Already in bottle for 1.5 months – LM has done this since 2010 – as he thinks it a better fit as the is Clos always has a higher ripeness.
Faint reduction but very finely textured with much more salinity – super!
2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Chaumes
There has been a little addition of whole clusters to the fermentation of this wine, since 2010 – LM suggesting that provides a ‘little lift.’
The nose is wide and quite muscled, showing plenty of energy. Some gas and a growing minerality on the fine and lithe palate. Growing intensity – a very fine Chaumes!
2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
15% whole clusters used here.
A big nose, that slowly brings a faint spice and lift. Bigger in the mouth – splendid wine
2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Petits Monts
this was the last malo to finish – in July.
A wide and complex aroma. Lush, wide and complex – once more with a little salinity. Really super!
Wide and complex, also a little fresher than the Petits Monts. An extra sucrosité and density of flavour. This is drop-dead-gorgeous!
Faint reduction but still fine aromatic width – slowly developing complexity – still rather discrete. In the mouth this is simply joyous and multidimensional – absolute class – shame you can’t buy it!
2013 Nuits St.Georges 1er Clos des Grands Vignes
once more, a faint reduction – behind is freshness below is quite some depth. Fresh, good fruit with an undertow of plenty of tannin – but slippy not grippy tannin!
Wide but with fine depth too – fine, confidently complex aromas. Large-scaled, again with slippy tannin. The flavour grows spectacularly in the mid-palate. Great wine!
Very different; width and a spicy complexity of depth. An added fat to the texture, perhaps more concentrated if not necessarily more intense. But once-more, beautiful wine.
Wow wide and deep – despite a faint reduction. Neither super-textured, nor super-mineral – this takes a mid-course. Understated tannin but massive complexity… Ouf!
2007 La Romanée
Quite high-toned – not the aromatic of the 13s today – yet good aromatic complexity. In the mouth it’s another tory – super-full, textured and complex – faintly salty – it’s showing much better (typical!) than the bottle I opened during the 2013 vintage…