2011 Moulin à Vent, Les Rouchaux, Thibault Liger-Belair

2011 Moulin à Vent, Les Rouchaux, Thibault Liger-Belair

Product: 20118008987
 
2011 Moulin à Vent, Les Rouchaux, Thibault Liger-Belair

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Description

Though happily established in Nuits-St Georges, Thibault trained at a viticultural college in Beaujolais where ancestors of his once had vines. Starting with the 2009 vintage, Thibault has begun to build up a portfolio of vineyards within the appellation of Moulin-à-Vent. His wines are some of the most fabulous we have ever tasted from the region.

The soil in Les Rouchaux is sand on top of blue granite, planted with 70-year-old vines. With a glorious black-purple colour, this is ultra stylish, more compact than 2009 but with grace and length.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate91-92+/100
Heady scents of wisteria and heliotrope mingle with those of cassis and blackberry in the nose of Liger-Belairs 2011 Moulin-a-Vent Les Rouchaux, whose rich yet persistently juicy berry fruit and alluring inner-mouth perfume are allied on a polished, buoyant palate with rich suggestions of veal stock. This finishes with lip-smacking, palate-staining, salt-tinged intensity, promising after bottling to merit revisiting at the very least through 2018.
David Schildknecht - 28/06/2013 Read more

About this WINE

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair is part of our Spotlight on sustainability series. You can view the full range here.

Thibault Liger-Belair is cousin to Vicomte Liger Belair of Vosne Romanée. In 2001 he took over an old family property in Nuits St Georges, taking back the vines which had been contracted out to various share croppers, and leased a cuverie just down the road. The family jewels (his branch) consist of Richebourg, Clos de Vougeot and Nuits St Georges Les St Georges, to which he has added further vineyards and a few additional cuvées made from purchased grapes.

The vines are now certified organic and farmed biodynamically, with horses used to plough the vineyards where possible. The grapes are rigorously sorted on a table de tri, then destalked and fermented without much punching down or pumping over.  They will be racked once during the elevage, but Thibault is not afraid of reductive flavours at this stage which, he feels, adds to the eventual substance and complexity of the wine. The oak regime is not to exceed 50% new barrels but also not to use any barrels more than three years old. The natural style of Thibault’s wines is plump and full-bodied, though the benefits of his farming methods seem to be bringing a more mineral aspect to the fruit as well.

The natural style of Thibault’s wines is plump and full-bodied, though the benefits of his farming methods seem to be bringing a more mineral aspect to the fruit as well.

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Moulin-à-Vent

Moulin-à-Vent

Known as the ‘King of Beaujolais’ for its power, structure and longevity, Moulin-à-Vent is the most atypical of all the Beaujolais Crus, even if it is potentially the best. Its style is the antithesis of light, fluffy Beaujolais, and when fully mature (often at 10 years old or more) it resembles more a fine Burgundy, or even a Rhône, than Beaujolais. Named after the local windmill (which translates as moulin-à-vent in French) Moulin-à-Vent is a real vindication of the principle of ‘terroir’. 

Moulin-à-Vent's neighbour Fleurie produces perfumed, silky, approachable wines, while Moulin-à-Vent, using the same grape (100% Gamay) and broadly the same vinification, makes wines that are meaty, tannic and intense, and need 2-3 years to mature.  The only possible explanation, it seems, is the high proportion of iron and manganese in Moulin-à-Vent’s soil. Moulin-à-Vent tends to be most expensive of the Beaujolais Crus, although happily it is home to a number of very fine producers, so there is plenty for wine lovers to choose from.

Recommended producers: Jacky Janodet, Olivier Merlin.

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Gamay

Gamay

A French variety planted predominately in Beaujolais where it is the grape behind everything from light and often acidic Beaujolais Nouveau through to the more serious and well-structured wines from the 10 cru villages. It takes its name from a hamlet just outside Chassagne-Montrachet and was at one stage widely planted on the Côte d`Or. However it was gradually phased out due to its poor yield and supposed poor quality of its wines.

The majority of Gamay wines in Beaujolais are labelled as Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages and are deliciously juicy, easy drinking, gulpable wines. Of more interest are the Cru wines from the 10 villages in the north of the region where the soil is predominantly granitic schist and where the vines are planted on gently undulating slopes. These can be well-structured, intensely perfumed wines, redolent of ripe black fruits and, while delicious young, will reward medium term cellaring.

Gamay is also grown in the Touraine region of the Loire where it produces soft, well-balanced, gluggable wines for drinking young.

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